Miami: Defending champion Sloane Stephens was sent packing from the Miami Open on Sunday after a 6-3 6-2 loss to Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the third round. Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion and world No 6, had no answer to Florida-based Maria’s slices, chips and lobs and suffered a second consecutive early exit after losing her first match in Indian Wells to Swiss qualifier Stefanie Vogele.
Earlier on Sunday, second seed Simona Halep fought back from a set down to defeat Polona Hercog while Venus Williams reached the next round with a straight sets win over Daria Kasatkina.
Maria, ranked 62nd in the world, celebrated prematurely on her third match point with a lob shot that was called out, but won on the next one when Stephens sent a backhand long.
“I could not be happier right now,” the 31-year-old said. “I think I played at home, because I live here. It was helping me a lot.
“My game is pretty special, so I knew that tonight I had a chance. I played two times against Sloane, so I knew what to expect.”
Halep had nothing but praise for Hercog, who has a world ranking of 93rd, after dropping the first set and being pushed all the way in the second by the Slovenian.
The Romanian dominated the tiebreak to turn the match around and eventually triumphed 5-7 7-6(1) 6-2.
“It was not easy at all,” Halep said. “I think the level was very, very high. She played unbelievable. If she keeps playing like this, she can be top 20 easy.”
HIGH STANDARD
Halep grabbed the match by the scruff of the neck by winning five consecutive points in the second set tiebreak and after lucky loser Hercog pulled within 3-2 in the concluding set, Halep won the next three games to seal the match. “I think in the end she got tired a little bit, then I was stepping a little bit forward to be more aggressive,” Halep said.
“She didn’t miss. So it was really difficult. It was a very, very high standard.” — Reuters
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