Can Sloane Stephens win the Citi Open?

Aug 8, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Sloane Stephens celebrates after her match against Samantha Stosur in a women

Washington Final Preview: Can Sloane Stephens Finally Claim A Maiden WTA Title?

It’s been a long time coming.

Ever since she eked past Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals back in 2013, Sloane Stephens has been a notorious figure on the WTA tour. She continued to notch up impressive wins and make deep runs at large tournaments, but was never able to actually win titles, let alone reach tournament finals. Entering the Citi Open this week, Stephens was 0-6 in semifinal matches. She was also the only member of the WTA top 40 to have never reached a WTA final. Tomorrow, after years of waiting she will contest her first championship match.

Okay, so it may seem a little dramatic to place so much emphasis on the final of such a small tournament. But Stephens’ broad smile after her semifinal victory spoke of the relief she felt reaching the Sunday match.

And it’s a match that she’ll be the favourite to win, in light of her performances this week. Her first round and quarterfinal wins over Magda Linette and Louisa Chirico (she received a walkover in the second round) were stellar, albeit straightforward.

It was her victory over Sam Stosur in the semifinals, though, that indicated how consistent and focused Stephens has become. Stephens possessed an unenviable 0-2 record against the Australian. Stosur had also been on an absolute tear coming into the match, winning 8 consecutive matches. And she looked to maintain her strong form, claiming an early break in the first set. Stephens was able to break back immediately with some strong returning. And despite some solid serving and thunderous forehands from the Australian, Stephens fought her way to a tightly-contested tiebreak, which she eventually took.

As Stosur quickly unraveled in the second set, Stephens knuckled down and dictated each rally by hitting her groundstrokes with some mind-boggling angles. It would have been understandable for the American, as she closed out the match, to experience some nerves. But to her credit, she continued to push Stosur outside of the court with well-placed groundstrokes and served the Australian a double bagel.

More from WTA

And with all due respect to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the quality of Sloane’s next opponent is a step down from Stosur. Nastia progressed to the final after Ekaterina Makarova retired in their semifinal meeting. Makarova was the better player for most of the match, so it’s disappointing that she is unable to contend for the title. Having said that, Nastia well and truly deserves her spot here, after great wins over Magdalena Rybarikova, Christina McHale and an astounding straight-sets drubbing of Belinda Bencic.

The Russian is undoubtedly a talented player, but as I wrote in my preview of the Makarova-Nastia match, she has a tendency to lose concentration and spray errors.

This will be the first career meeting of Sloane and Nastia, so it’s difficult to tell how their game styles compare and contrast. Both players have the ability to hit their way to the title, especially if their opponent is having an off-day. If both women are in top form, I’d still favour Sloane. Nastia’s speed across the court and general fitness is questionable. This will likely be an issue against a player who loves to move her opponents outside the widths of the court with a lethal combination of angle and pace. Stephens’ speed across the court is also far superior, so she will be able to retrieve the balls that Nastia will not be able to.

Another factor in the final will be Sloane’s inevitable nerves. Not only will she be competing in a tournament final for the first time, but she will be doing it in the presence of her home crowd. However, as her outstanding grand slam record proves, Stephens loves the big events and should soak up the American crowd’s energy. Of course, her disappointing record in tournament semifinals suggests that she does struggle in the latter stages of tournaments, but her sublime performance against Stosur should put those thoughts to rest.

I picked Sloane at the start of the week to win the tournament, and I’m going to stick with her. The young American will employ her newfound concentration and determination along with her roaring game to finally add some silverware to her mantel. And like she’s done all week, she’ll do it in straight sets.

Do you think Sloane can claim a maiden WTA title? Let us know in the comments below!

Next: US Open Series 2015: Top Women's Storylines

More from Lob and Smash

Home/WTA