Francesca Schiavone has been defeated by Sloane Stephens of USA in the opening round of the US Open. Stephens won the match in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-4. The American youngster showed brilliant temperament in the match and stunned the experienced Italian player. Schiavone looked under pressure throughout the match. She didn’t serve well and neither did she manage to play the return shots with fluency.
Stephens was off to a fantastic start in the match. She got a breakpoint in the second game of the first set and she capitalized on that to take a lead of 2-0. However, the Italian veteran made an immediate comeback in the match and broke Stephens’ service in the next game to make the score 2-1. Schiavone levelled the score by holding her service in the 4th game. The next three games went with the serve and Stephens was ahead by 4-3 at the end of the seventh game. The American youngster managed to sneak a breakthrough in the eighth game and then, held her service in the next game to win the first set by 6-3.
Stephens carried on the momentum in the second set as well. She broke Schiavone’s service in the very first game of the second set and then, served out the next game to make the score 2-0. But, Schiavone was able to equalise the score by capitalizing on the breakpoint that she got in the 4th game. Stephens got ahead in the set again by sneaking a breakthrough in the very next game. She maintained the lead till the end of the set and won the match. In the second round, Stephens will take on Tatjana Malek of Germany who made her way to the second round by defeating Akgul Amanmuradova.