Tennis can be a mental test.
Sloane Stephens concedes animated opponent Yulia Putintseva nearly drove her nuts in Cincinnati.
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Stephens prevailed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, withstanding the feisty Putintseva, who tossed her racquet around the court repeatedly, carried on a running monologue and sometimes did her best to stall impose her pace of play and annoy the American.
Stephens suggested the nuisance and distraction cards are part of Putintseva's playbook.
"If it's not one scam, it's another," Stephens said. "Like, it just comes with the territory.
"I mean, there are very few players that you have to actually be, like, on your toes for things like that. But I think definitely you always know what you're going to get with that opponent. So just got to be ready."
See the somewhat frosty handshake between the pair at the 7:30 mark of this video:
The pair have split four sometime contentious career clashes with all four encounters going three sets.
The 2017 US Open champion pulled no punches assessing how she feels about Putintseva's antics.
"I was trying to be zen, because she will work your last damn nerve," Stephens told the media in Cincinnati "There were only, like, 12 racquet throws...
"I mean, it's hard not to see what's going on the other side of the court, because it's just a lot of stuff happening. And I think sometimes if you get, you know, agitated or frustrated or whatever, that can kind of creep into what's happening and kind of affect play.
"I have played her enough now to kind of know how to navigate those situations. You obviously have to be very ready to play when you play her. Yeah, today, like I said, I just tried to be as calm as possible and just focus on my side of the net."
Photo credit: Pascal Ratthe/Tennis Canada Facebook