Stephens on to 2nd round at Rogers Cup

RogersCup fans got a glimpse of what's been touted as the next big thing in American tennis for some time.

Sloane Stephens debuted at the women's tournament Monday with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over France's Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round in Toronto.

The world No. 17-ranked Stephens has been labelled the natural successor to Serena and Venus Williams in the American women's game. This year she's proving why, with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open and quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon.

Stephens insists she doesn't let the hype affect her game.

"Obviously most of the attention I get is pretty positive," said Stephens. "It's because people want to see me do well and I'm American and that's awesome, but I mean there's a little downfall of that too. There is a lot of pressure ... and things like that.

"You just have to deal with it and play hard and imagine what [Andy]Murray deals with in England and what Serena has dealt with for so many years. It's definitely tough but people have done it before."

The 20-year-old Stephens battled back from down 5-3 in the second set to win the match in 90 minutes 40 seconds.

She looked strong from the first game as she broke Mladenovic twice to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The No. 39-ranked Frenchwoman tried to play aggressive by attacking the net, but Stephens blew a forehand by her to make it 4-0.

"She comes in a lot and volleys really well," said Stephens. "I knew probably she was going to press a little and make me play more balls. But I tried to stay with it and hit a lot of angles and move her and it seemed to work."

Mladenovic had a chance to break and make it 4-2 but returned the ball long, then wide before Stephens reversed momentum to win the game and pull ahead 5-1.

Mladenovic appeared en route to forcing a third set with a 5-3 lead in the second, but Stephens won three straight games before closing out the match in a tiebreak.

"She upped her game a lot in the second set," said Stephens. "Some nights it's going to be up and down, but I thought I stayed pretty solid and got through it."

Stephens will next face Germany's Mona Barthel, who advanced with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(1) win over China's Jie Zheng.

Source: cbc

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