By Erik Gudris | Sunday, January 14, 2018

 

Zhang Shuai battled back in the Australian Open first round to hand Sloane Stephens her eighth straight loss since winning the US Open.

Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

Once again, Sloane Stephens has many asking themselves, “Which way now?”

This is after the No. 13 seed Stephens found herself exiting the Australian Open at the hands of China’s Zhang Shuai 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2. Zhang’s victory extended a rather dismal stat for Stephens - it was her eighth consecutive loss since winning the US Open last September.

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Stephens just a few months ago surprised and delighted tennis fans with her US Open title run. Since then, Stephens off the court has been wrapped up in a whirlwind of media, increased fame, magazine covers (including Sports Illustrated) and new endorsements (the biggest with Nike).
 

For Stephens, dealing with that career-changing win has been overwhelming.

“Yeah, of course, you guys are tweeting about me more. Everyone is talking about me more. I mean, it's kind of what comes with the territory. You kind of can't put too much emphasis on it,” Stephens said in a pre-tournament press conference.
 

“I think it's always a tough transition when you go from not playing tennis for 11 months to winning a Grand Slam. It's never going to be anything you expected. In terms of that, it's a little bit overwhelming.”
 

Stephens looked at the start like she might finally end her losing streak. Starting out sharp, Stephens wrapped up the first set 6-2.
 

Yet the second set saw the momentum swing back in favor of Zhang who is best known for reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals two years ago that included beating Simona Halep.
 

Stephens and Zhang traded multiple service breaks in the set before Stephens managed to earn another break for 5-4. Stephens served for the match, but Zhang proved resilient and broke back for 5-all.
 

Eventually Zhang seized control after running away with the second set tiebreak 7-6(2).
 

Zhang, with strong hitting and staying tenacous from the backcourt, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final set. Stephens tried to keep in touch by raising her level enough to stay just a service break down behind her opponent. Yet the cumulative effect of Stephens not having played many matches this past fall, an ongoing knee issue, and a lack of training, caught up with her.
 

Zhang maintained her lead as Stephens starting looking more flat and somewhat tired during their extended rallies. Stephens double faulted while down another break point to hand Zhang a 5-2 lead.
 

Zhang wasted no time closing out the match in the next game. Zhang clinched the win 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 after Stephens committed one more forehand error.
 

“I play against a tough player. Sloane plays so well I’m really happy to play against her because she is a great player on this court, I feel very lucky.” Zhang said after the win.
 

For Zhang, she can now look ahead to the second round. For Stephens, she now gets more time perhaps to work on her game and also come to terms with her new status as a Grand Slam champion. For those that thought 2017 would end all the question marks about Stephens, it seems, for the moment,some of those questions remain unanswered at the start of this new year.