Stephens wins on French Open day 4

2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens powered into the third round of Roland Garros on Wednesday, extending her impressive run on the Parisian dirt.

Stephens (pictured above) defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, 6-1, 7-6, inside Court Philippe-Chatrier to move into the French Open Round of 32 for the seventh consecutive time.

The American, runner-up to Simona Halep in Paris 12 months ago, has won more Grand Slam matches here (22) than at any other major. Since a first-round loss in 2011, Stephens made the fourth round in four consecutive years from 2012-16 and reached the third round twice. She missed the 2017 season while recovering from foot surgery but bounced back to win the US Open later that summer before reaching her second Slam final in France the next season.

Stephens’ victory sets up a third-round match with Polona Hercog of Slovenia after Hercog outlasted another American, Jen Brady, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, earlier in the day.

On Day 4 at the French Open, Stephens raced through a 27-minute opening set by breaking three times and dropping just four points on serve. 

She then jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, giving her nine of the match’s first 10 games, before her serve suddenly went away. Stephens was broken four times in a row, but Sorribes Tormo was unable to capitalize, dropping serve three straight times herself, including twice when she was serving for the set. 

While Stephens failed to protect her own serve in the second set, particularly in the deuce court when she tried to attack the Spaniard’s backhand, she did find success out wide in the ad court, limiting the number of chances Sorribes Tormo had to run around balls and attack from the forehand wing.

Where Stephens ended up winning the battle, though, was in the return game, converting all seven break points she crafted. In total, she won almost two-thirds of points when Sorribes Tormo landed her first serve and three-quarters of the points on her second serve.

“It's nice,” Stephens said of her win. “Obviously, I played well both matches, so just happy to be back in a good position in a Slam. I played Grand Slams where I have played unseeded people in the first couple of rounds, and I have played some where I have played a former No. 1 player in the second round that wasn't seeded. Obviously, once I get into a good rhythm in the tournament I have better results. I just try to do that. I just try to play the best I can from the very beginning and just see how it goes.

“My movement is good. Everything is just kind of falling into place, and that's kind of what you want. Obviously, I had a good result in Madrid, but you want it to click here. This is obviously the most important period that it should click. So, yeah, I'm happy to be in this position and happy to be getting better match by match.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Shelby Rogers lost to No. 28 seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3. Doubles action also continued around the grounds, as Jessica Pegula and Desirae Krawczyk defeated the 12th-seeded team of Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, and Danielle Collins and Sabrina Santamaria defeated Julie Belgraver and Mylene Halemai of France, 6-2, 6-3. 

Asia Muhammad and Maria Sanchez fell to No. 3 seeds Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-1, and Mackenzie McDonald and Reilly Opelka retired in the opening set of their first-round men’s doubles match against Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania and Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan after McDonald injured his leg after just 20 minutes. 

Day 5 in Paris sees the conclusion of the second round, which features five U.S. women and the last-standing American man.

On the women's side Serena Williams plays second on Court Philippe-Chatrier against Kurumi Nara of Japan while Madison Keys faces Priscilla Hon of Australia on court Simonne-Mathieu. On court 1, Amanda Anisimova meets Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus followed by Danielle Collins against Ash Barty. Sofia Kenin meets young Canadian Bianca Andreescu on Court 6.

Taylor Fritz will look to keep the U.S. flag flying on court 6 when he plays No. 18 seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a spot in the Round of 32.