It took a while for Sloane Stephens to accept the big gulf between the highs and lows of her career but she’s now in a place where she is at peace with the rollercoaster nature of the circuit – a peacefulness that was on full display during her dismissal of the No.10 seed, Petra Kvitova.
In a showdown between a pair of former Grand Slam champions, a calm and collected Stephens knocked out the two-time Wimbledon winner 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round at the Championships for the sixth time.
“Obviously, seeing the first round, I was like, ‘Oh boy, this is going to be a difficult task’. But knowing that I’ll probably play on a big court and feeling good, I was excited to play against Petra,” Stephens said on court after her victory.
A former No.3 and a champion at the US Open in 2017, Stephens arrived at SW19 ranked No.73. The American started 2021 by losing four first-round matches in a row. She hadn’t competed on grass in two years and had a modest 12-11 win-loss record for the season.
But Stephens, a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2013, can flip the switch at any moment, and her performance against Kvitova was as clean as it gets.
“It’s so special, obviously not playing on grass for two years and then being able to come back and my first match on grass is on Centre Court here, with fans back, is really just a dream,” said the 28-year-old.
“I love grass, and it’s just not really translated. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve had a good result on grass but here is a good start, beating a really good grass-court player. So I'm looking forward to more matches and hopefully can get a good run here at Wimbledon.”
Stephens has an ability to make everything look so easy. Her exceptional movement makes it seem as if she’s gliding on the court, her strokes so smooth, it often leads spectators and pundits to assume, unfairly, that she’s not trying hard enough. Spoiler alert: she’s definitely tries very hard.
After dropping serve in the opening game, Stephens retaliated immediately, before breaking Kvitova again with a clever backhand return winner en route to a 5-2 advantage. It was all Stephens needed to wrap up the set in 32 minutes when Kvitova sent an erratic forehand long.
Kvitova swatted away two break points at the start of the second set, before upping the pressure on the Stephens serve in game six. But a 0-40 deficit did not faze Stephens, who skipped her way past four break points to hold, and was soon up a break at 4-3.
On match point, Stephens flaunted her speedy footwork, adjusting to a mis-hit from Kvitova to find the winner that clipped the sideline and earned her the victory. The result improves her head-to-head record to 3-1 against the Czech lefty.
Kvitova, who injured her ankle in a freak accident while fulfilling her press commitments at Roland-Garros earlier this month, said she was pain-free during the match with Stephens but admits “it hurts” to leave Wimbledon so soon.
“I just love it here. Maybe that's why sometimes it's too hard for me to play,” said Kvitova, who has a 75 per cent winning record at Wimbledon (33-11 win-loss). “Of course, I'm very disappointed. I'm sad I lost in my first round here.
"I'm glad I can be here after two years missing it. And I know also that there are much tougher, harder times in the life than just losing the match. Of course, it hurts. On the other hand I know there are more important things in life.”
Stephens has become an expert at overcoming rough patches, often going on lengthy losing streaks before recovering in remarkable fashion. She explains how a mature perspective has helped her deal with the troughs of her career. “It's a hamster wheel. You've just got to keep going,” she said in a recent conversation with fellow American Madison Keys.
“When you break down the math of it, it starts to sink in a little more. Think about it: in a Grand Slam, only one person can win, but there's 128 people in the draw. So only one of those people is going to win.
"If you get to the last four, you're doing something right. If it gets to the last two, it's even better. I think breaking it down and being like, ‘no one's going to win every week’, puts it into perspective.”
In round two, Stephens faces the winner of the clash between home favourite Heather Watson and lucky loser Kristie Ahn.
