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Sloane Stephens takes down Jelena Ostapenko at 2018 Miami Open

By Harry Floyd

KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 31: Sloane Stephens of the United States celebrates after defeating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's final on Day 13 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 31, 2018 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL - MARCH 31: Sloane Stephens of the United States celebrates after defeating Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in the women's final on Day 13 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Crandon Park Tennis Center on March 31, 2018 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Sloane Stephens is reaching career heights after her 2018 Miami Open title win. She defeats Jelena Ostapenko in the Miami finals.

Sloane Stephens takes the title at the 2018 Miami Open. The young American tennis star has burst onto the scene in women’s singles tennis in the last few years.

Defeating Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets, she takes the finals meeting to earn the title. After a hard-fought first set, Stephens found her groove in the second. The American was the No. 13 seed this week in Miami. She wins the finals match, going 7-6 (5), 6-1.

The title win at the 2018 Miami Open is the sixth WTA Tour singles title throughout her young career. She has previously reached as high as the world No. 11 ranking in women’s singles tennis. Coming into this month’s tournament as the world No. 12, she will likely taste career heights yet again. Women’s singles is seeing an extremely competitive field of players vying for their places in the WTA Top 10. Ostapenko is also one of those players. She entered Miami as the world No. 5. Her runner-up performance included wins over the likes of Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitova among others. Both she and Stephens came to play this month.

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Sloane Stephens is the 2018 Miami Open champion in women’s singles tennis. She defeats Jelena Ostapenko in the finals.

The win is huge for Stephens moving forward. Her title run included wins over the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Garbine Muguruza, and Angelique Kerber prior to the finals. At just 25-years-old, Stephens is easily one of the best in the sport right now. Plus, she has plenty of experience for such a young player. Look for Stephens to be a top contender throughout the entirety of the 2018 WTA Tour. Finals action on the men’s singles side goes down on Sunday in Miami.

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American John Isner looks to challenge rising star Alexander Zverev in the finals tomorrow. If Isner can complete the title run, he will join Sloane Stephens, making it two Americans to taste glory at the Miami Open. Check back to see how Stephens fares throughout the coming week and how the action goes down on the men’s singles side in Miami.

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