Someday, maybe soon, a fourth-round exit
at a Grand Slam tournament won't feel like such a big success to Sloane
Stephens.
The unseeded American teenager's best run at a major came to an end in the fourth round of the French Open yesterday with a 7-5, 6-4 loss to U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia, the No. 6 seed.
Despite the loss, Stephens, 19, leaves Paris with a promising career ahead.
“People play well with confidence, and when you're having fun and you're doing the right things, everything is all good,” she said. “So even though I lost today, I played pretty well.”
Stephens, the daughter of a former NFL Pro Bowl player and a college All-America swimmer, fell behind 5-1 in the second set against Stosur before breaking her twice to extend the match.
Stephens' exit leaves Varvara Lepchenko, who is also unseeded, as the only U.S. singles player left in the tournament. Lepchenko takes on Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round today.
Also at Roland Garros yesterday, women's No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka and men's No. 1 Novak Djokovic were on courts at the same time and found themselves in major danger of losing. Azarenka was down a set and a break against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, while Djokovic was on his way to falling behind Andreas Seppi of Italy by two sets.
Fans were bundled up in sweaters and coats on the overcast, windy day,waffen ss uniforms and there were roars and gasps and occasional boos.
At the end of the top seeds' matches, only the peak of the women's pyramid had crumbled. Cibulkova managed to finish off an upset of Azarenka, winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), but Djokovic found a way to keep his hopes alive by reeling in Seppi 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Djokovic's victory required 4 hours and 18 minutes. Seppi broke his serve six times, and Djokovic finished with 77 unforced errors to go with 44 winners.
Yet he is just three victories from becoming the first man since 1969 to hold all four of the Grand Slam singles titles.
“I'm not worried,” Djokovic said. “I'm just hoping I can wake up tomorrow, knowing that I'm in a quarterfinal, and I just want to deliver my best performance in the next challenge, forget this match today, take the best out of it. I'm proud that I've been fighting and coming back from two sets down. That's all I can say now.”
The unseeded American teenager's best run at a major came to an end in the fourth round of the French Open yesterday with a 7-5, 6-4 loss to U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia, the No. 6 seed.
Despite the loss, Stephens, 19, leaves Paris with a promising career ahead.
“People play well with confidence, and when you're having fun and you're doing the right things, everything is all good,” she said. “So even though I lost today, I played pretty well.”
Stephens, the daughter of a former NFL Pro Bowl player and a college All-America swimmer, fell behind 5-1 in the second set against Stosur before breaking her twice to extend the match.
Stephens' exit leaves Varvara Lepchenko, who is also unseeded, as the only U.S. singles player left in the tournament. Lepchenko takes on Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the fourth round today.
Also at Roland Garros yesterday, women's No. 1 seed Victoria Azarenka and men's No. 1 Novak Djokovic were on courts at the same time and found themselves in major danger of losing. Azarenka was down a set and a break against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, while Djokovic was on his way to falling behind Andreas Seppi of Italy by two sets.
Fans were bundled up in sweaters and coats on the overcast, windy day,waffen ss uniforms and there were roars and gasps and occasional boos.
At the end of the top seeds' matches, only the peak of the women's pyramid had crumbled. Cibulkova managed to finish off an upset of Azarenka, winning 6-2, 7-6 (7-4), but Djokovic found a way to keep his hopes alive by reeling in Seppi 4-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
Djokovic's victory required 4 hours and 18 minutes. Seppi broke his serve six times, and Djokovic finished with 77 unforced errors to go with 44 winners.
Yet he is just three victories from becoming the first man since 1969 to hold all four of the Grand Slam singles titles.
“I'm not worried,” Djokovic said. “I'm just hoping I can wake up tomorrow, knowing that I'm in a quarterfinal, and I just want to deliver my best performance in the next challenge, forget this match today, take the best out of it. I'm proud that I've been fighting and coming back from two sets down. That's all I can say now.”
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