Sloane Stephens has been earmarked as the next great American women’s tennis player.
It’s not all about her big forehand, strong serve and court coverage. At the young age of 20, the native Floridian already is developing a reputation for being at her best on the big stage.
Stephens’ clutch rep was enhanced yesterday on Day 1 of the U.S. Open as she fought off her own miscues and a dogged opponent in a three-set thriller.
“This is what competing is all about,” the bubbly 15th-seeded Stephens said in a post-match press conference in which she maintained her trademark smile throughout. “When it’s time to get tough, I get tougher.”
With the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd urging her on, Stephens ousted Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). In the surprisingly difficult match, the 20-year-old Stephens was battling uphill virtually the entire way.
Struggling to keep rallies alive from the baseline against her hard-hitting opponent — Stephens committed an eye-popping 55 unforced errors to just 14 winners — she finally found herself with a crisp second set and took charge late in the third.
Trailing 4-2 in the third, Stephens took a deep breath and a brief break between games. Moments later, her mojo back, she ripped off two games in a row at love and forced a third-set tiebreaker with a brilliant reaching backhand crosscourt lob.
“I just told myself I need to be really aggressive,” Stephens recalled. “The match is going to get away form me if you don’t pull yourself together. I think when I give myself a reality check, most of the time it works.”
Minella was unable to match Stephens from the baseline after taking a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak. Stephens’ sixth ace evened it at 3-3, then she smoked a forehand at net to go ahead for good.
“I think it was brain power,” she joked.
Stephens, ranked 17th in the world, celebrated the two-hour, 48-minute marathon with a fist pump and thanked the capacity crowd for its vocal support, later describing the Grand Slam as “home.”
Stephens has begun to gain a following, having reached the semifinals at the Australian Open, where she defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams (a possible fourth-round opponent in Flushing), and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. It created some nerves for her.
“I think now there’s more eyes on me,” she said.
Another talented young American woman garnering attention, 18-year-old Madison Keys, was dispatched yesterday in the first round by No. 9 seed Jelena Jankovic, 6-3, 6-4.
But Stephens, instead of showing her age after the slow start, handled the pressure just fine, perhaps displaying the kind of fortitude needed to make a long run at the Open.