Sloane Stephens Defeats Serena Williams in Stunning Upset

Written by: Staff on 23rd January 2013

Sloane Stephens Defeats Serena Williams in Stunning Upset

epa03547425 Sloane Stephens of the US hits a forehand during her 4th round match against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 21 January 2013. EPA/Dennis Sabangan |

Serena Williams might have been the hottest of favorites to add the Australian Open to the Wimbledon, Olympic, US Open and WTA Championships titles she won at the tail end of last year but Sloane Stephens, the teenager who still treats the holder of 15 Grand Slam crowns as her idol, produced the upset of the tennis year.

Williams was on a 20-match winning streak and seemed perfectly on course for a sixth Australian Open triumph when her back dramatically stiffened, allowing Stephens to pounce and dismantle what had seemed an unassailable lead to move through to a first ever Grand Slam semi-final 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Ironically, Stephens became the first teenage semi-finalist at a major since Williams got to the last four of the US Open 12 years ago and the 19 year-old American maintained she talked herself into victory the previous evening.

Admittedly her mood was still one of total disbelief more than half an hour afterwards but Stephens said: “”Last night someone asked me, ‘Do you think you can win?’ I thought about it and I was like, ‘Yeah, I think so,’ but I wasn’t too clear about it.

“Then this morning when I got up, I was like, ‘Dude, like, you can do this. Like go out and play and do your best.’

“I think I was convinced I was able to do it when I lost serve in the first game in the second set and went down 2-0. I was like, ‘Hmm, this is not the way you want it to happen. But just fight and just get every ball back, run every ball down, and just get a lot of balls in play. I think you’ll be okay.

“From then on I got aggressive, started coming to the net more, and just got a lot more comfortable. I kind of just played my game from there, I think.”

Williams revealed she had been suffering with physical issues for the entire tournament after injuring an ankle at the build-up Brisbane International. Initially, she was reluctant to use the injuries as an excuse but then said: “A few days ago my back just got really tight and I had no rotation on it.

“I went for this drop shot in the second set today and it just locked up on me. It was a little painful, and I couldn’t really rotate after that, which I guess is normal. But it’s okay. It was what it was.”

“I’ve had a tough two weeks between the ankle and my back – a lot of stuff. But it was what it was.”

And Williams was non-committal on who she now thought might win the title. “It’s interesting,” she said. “I think Sloane, she’s in the semis now and that gives anyone a chance. Victoria [Azarenka] is playing well. She’s a fan favorite and she’s defending champ. She handles the pressure really well. So we’ll see. “

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: American tennis news, Australian Open, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens, Sports, Tennis News