Sloane Stephens switched coaches.
She made strides.
And after Monday’s U.S. Open first-round exit, none of that matters.
Once viewed as the next great American hopeful, every year that goes by those hopes seem further and further away.
Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Stephens 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, handing the latter a defeat that overshadowed any recent progress she’s made.
“I think I had a good summer obviously, [but] the only thing that really matters is here. So to be out in the first round is difficult,” Stephens said. “I think that the tennis that I’ve been playing is good, and I can be proud of that.
“I think there’s still a little bit of tennis left in the year to kind of make some moves, so I’m just going to try to do that, try not to sulk about this too much. But obviously disappointing considering that I’ve been playing well. I played a good match [Monday] and just didn’t get it done.”
That’s been an all-too-common occurrence lately for Stephens, who has struggled mightily in the Slams this year: A first-round exit in Australia and Flushing Meadows, second-round ouster in Wimbledon and fourth at the French Open.
It’s a far cry from Stephens’ past glory, a 2017 U.S. Open champion and former World No. 3. But after finishing 2021 ranked No. 64, it’s been a struggle to even claw back up to her current 36.
Sitting outside the seedings in Flushing Meadows, Stephens went back to old coach Kamau Murray, who guided her to that U.S. Open title.
“Yeah, we’re back together. Everything’s great,” Stephens replied shortly when asked about the change. Pressed on when, she answered, “In Cincinnati.”
The results have been better lately, reaching the third round in Cincinnati and Cleveland.
“It just happened,” Stephens shrugged. “We’ve always been friends. We’ve always been connected and we decided to work together again.”
It didn’t help on Monday.
Haddad Maia — the French Open semifinalist — saved 11 of 15 break points. Stephens still has her impressive footspeed, but not enough to overcome her up-and-down footwork — or her lack of aggression at the wrong times.
“She had to play a really strong match and I think she did; in the important moment she played well,” Stephens said. “It was a good battle, but just unfortunately had to be in the first round and just kind of got to deal with that.”
The most important moment came with Stephens serving at 3-all in the third set.
After a Haddad Maia forehand winner, Stephens lost the next point on a backhand error. Then she followed with another backhand error, and finally double-faulted to hand her Brazilian foe the point. Haddad Maia held, and closed out the match.
“I mean, yeah, I played a terrible game and got broken at love; I double faulted. There was a lot that happened in that game,” admitted Stephens. “But yeah, I mean, I was still in the match, I was still fighting. I still had opportunities even when she was serving at 4-3.
“I had a lot of opportunities, and I just didn’t take them well. And like I said, I was up 40-15 in some of those games, didn’t win the games. All of that adds up. So like I said, difficult, but I had my opportunities and just didn’t take them.”
Haddad Maia hit 40 winners, half of them in the third set alone.
“I was expecting a big battle,” Haddad Maia said. “I knew that I had to work very hard and try to focus on my game.”
Haddad Maia moves on to face another American in the second round, after Taylor Townsend — the last player to receive direct entry into the main draw — earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over France’s Varvara Gracheva.
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