The match many of us were anticipating is
here as Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens
square off for a spot in the US Open fourth
round.
Will Serena reach the second week yet again
for the billionth time, or will Sloane take
the win?
I’ll break down this matchup and give my
prediction here on GS Tennis News Today.
Serena opened against Kristie Ahn playing
a scrappy match to come through 7-5, 6-3.
Her second round was a lot better as she defeated
Russian Margarita Gasparyan 2 & 4.
Sloane played her first round against Mihaela
Buzarnescu winning 6-3, 6-3.
Her form improved drastically as she dominantes
Olga Govortsova 6-2 6-2.
Looking at their head to head Serena leads
5-1 with their last meeting coming in 2015
at Roland Garros.
Serena barely won the match and then went
on to win the title.
Their last and lone meeting at the Open was
7 years ago and Serena comprehensively won
that match 4 & 1.
In that year's first slam in Melbourne Sloane
took out Serena in three sets for her first
big win.
To accurately dissect this matchup though
I’ll revisit their last hard court match
in Indian Wells.
Sloane jumped out to the fast start and ultimately
won the first set by just being more solid
and making less errors.
Serena cleaned up her game and started to
control all the points which caused Sloane
to lower her level.
This same exact thing happened at the French
Open later that year as Stephens was two points
away from victory, but Serena picked things
up and stormed back to victory.
Addressing these two womens’ recent form
as of late they both have interesting journeys
prior to this match.
Serena overall has been the better player
as she played well in Lexington and Cincinnati
with the exception of the 2nd and 3rd sets
against Rogers and the final set versus Sakkari.
The US Open though has seen Serena at a slightly
lower level as she's had a lot more bad patches
against Ahn and Gasparyan.
Sloane on the other hand was pretty much in
poor form since mid-2019 to just a few weeks
ago in Lexington.
She then lost in the opening round of the
Western and Southern Open against Caroline
Garcia, but showed many flashes of her slam-winning
greatness.
In her opening round against Buzarnescu she
played a decent match to win her second match
of 2020.
However, her recent rout of Olgo Govortsova
was very impressive because it was truly reminiscent
of her 2017, 2018 form.
For Sloane’s keys to the match she has to
move Serena as much as possible.
Though improved, Serena’s shotmaking on
the run isn’t the best and she makes a lot
of her errors in that position.
If Sloane can effectively do this she can
win a great number of the baseline rallies.
Another thing Sloane needs to do is look for
the forehand.
There’s no secret that her forehand is her
best shot, but when she can hit that inside
out followed by inside in she has even more
success.
That strategy is another way of getting Williams
on the move.
Sloane’s favorite serve is the slice to
the righty’s forehand.
I think this will be a good serve for her
against Serena especially if she can direct
it more towards her body as well.
The fourth point is to allow Serena to beat
herself.
This point seems harsh but Sloane has had
early success against Serena earlier on in
their matches due to being the steadier player
and inducing many errors from Serena.
So far in this tournament Serena’s shot
tolerance hasn’t been great, so I can see
Sloane getting many games in the opening set
just off of being consistent.
The fifth and final point for Sloane is to
stay positive and not give up.
This is the most important thing for Sloane
to do because when the going gets tough Serena
won't let up but she oftentimes does.
In 2017 Sloane’s attitude was the best it
was especially in her US Open semi against
Venus for she fought until the very last point.
It won't be easy so she needs to do the same
here.
For Serena to be successful she needs to hit
with depth especially to the backhand.
Sloane’s backhand is decent but she doesn't
have the best footwork on that side and oftentimes
is off balanced.
This plays into the next point which is to
not give Sloane time, rushing her in a sense.
Sloane’s backhand and even forehand are
fine when she has time, but when rushed especially
up the middle its a different story.
Serena has to prevent her from cracking that
inside out forehand so SHE isnt on the run.
Sloane’s second serve is perhaps the softest
shot Serena see so she needs to take advantage
of that slow serve to put more pressure on
the 26th seed.
Serena’s footwork will be a major indicator
of her play, so if she isn’t moving her
feet we’ll see a lot of errors and poor
court coverage from her.
The last point I have for Serena is to hand
in there to weather the Sloane storm.
Many times Sloane’s best tennis is at the
start of the match but as things go deep her
level of play tends to drop.
This was evident at French Open in 2015 against
Serena and 2018 against Halep.
Stephens will likely start extremely well
and push Serena to the brink but if the 23-time
major champion can hang in there and push
it to a decider the match is in her favor.
I think that's how this match will go with
Sloane coming out strong winning the first
set, but she starts to drop while Serena improves,
Williams taking the final two sets.
Sloane is fully capable of beating Serena
and I think she could, but its hard to imagine
Serena not raising her level and I think she’ll
be more hungry for the win.
It’s honestly a shame that they’re playing
against one another because this could honestly
be a final, but I think whoever wins will
take the confidence very very deep into the
tournament.
In their second round press conferences here's
what Sloane and Serena said about this upcoming
match.
Do you agree that Serena will come through,
or will Sloane manage her second win over
the 6-time champ.
Leave your thoughts in the comment section
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