By Tennis Now | Thursday, October 20, 2022
Sloane Stephens subdued sixth-seeded Caroline Garcia 7-6(6), 7-5 to charge into her first quarterfinal since Roland Garros.
Photo credit: Getty
Native Floridian Sloane Stephens continues to look right at home in Guadalajara.
Roaring back from 0-5 down in the tiebreaker, Stephens subdued Caroline Garcia 7-6(6), 7-5 to charge into her first quarterfinal since Roland Garros at the Guadalajara Open.
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The 29-year-old Stephens captured the WTA 250 title in Guadalajara last February and has extended her streak of success in her return.
Down love-5 in the tiebreaker, Stephens dug in with defiance. When Garcia double-faulted deep, Stephens evened the tiebreaker, 6-6. Stephens drew successive forehand errors to snatch a one-set lead.
Stephens' triumph tonight was her first Top 10 victory since she beat Petra Kvitova in her 2021 Wimbledon opener.
It is Stephens' eighth straight win in Guadalajara and sends her into an all-American quarterfinal clash vs. Jessica Pegula.
Earlier, Pegula broke serve four times in a 6-4, 6-4 victory over 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu.
The third-seeded Pegula, who had a first-round bye, has beaten back-to-back Grand Slam champions following her three-set win over Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
Pegula, who has qualified for the WTA Finals in both singles and doubles, will try to score her third straight win over a major champion when she meets Stephens.
World No. 5 Pegula has swept all four prior sets vs. Stephens scoring a 2021 Indian Wells win and a victory at the Miami Open last March.
Eighteen-year-old Coco Gauff, the youngest woman to qualify for the WTA Finals in singles and doubles, extended her run. Gauff won nine games in a row sparking a 6-0, 6-3 blowout of Italian Martina Trevisan.
Roland Garros runner-up Gauff will face former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals with the winner playing the Pegula-Stephens winner in the semifinal.
Azarenka outlasted Madison Keys 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-1. The seventh-ranked Gauff will play world No. 37 Azarenka for the first time.