San Diego Open: Sabalenka defeats Stephens; advances in quarterfinal
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated American Sloane Stephens 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals of the San Diego Open here on Thursday.
United States tennis player Sloane Stephens on Saturday staged an outstanding comeback against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 0-6, 6-4, 6-1, setting up a final-round duel with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in her very first appearance at the WTA Finals.
Things looked grim for Stephens after her 6-0, 2-0 start, but she found her footing and bested Pliskova in one hour and 55 minutes, while her Czech opponent suffered serious physical problems at the end of the semifinal clash, reports Efe.
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“I had a bit of an adrenaline dump after I finally won one game – I was really fired up, so I was like ‘Okay, come on, let’s do this. I can win one game, maybe I can win two, then three.’ And I just started to feel the ball a little better,” Stephens said following her win, as quoted by the WTA’s website.
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“I’m just really proud of my fight today,” she continued.
In the season-ending tourney’s championship match, fifth-seeded Stephens is set to face sixth-seeded Svitolina, who beat Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4 earlier Saturday.
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