Stephens overpowers friend in their first Open meeting

Three years ago, a reporter asked Sloane Stephens to point out a younger tennis player most fans might not have heard of yet, someone she thought could become a household name some day. Stephens paused to ponder, before responding: Coco Gauff, then 14.

Stephens had met Gauff several years earlier and clearly knew what she was talking about. The world would quickly discover Gauff, too. The pair of friends met in an official match for the first time at the US Open, and it was Stephens, the 2017 champion now ranked 66th, who pulled away for a 6-4, 6-2 victory over

Gauff, now 17 and seeded 21st.

Afterwards, the pair met at the net for a warm hug, before Stephens praised the player — and person — Gauff has become.

“I love Coco. I think everyone knows I love Coco. At the end of the match, I said, ‘I love you.’ She’s such a great player and I feel so lucky to have seen her grow up and play since she was eight,” Stephens told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.

“I know,” Stephens added, “there’s going to be great things ahead for her.”

With the Ashe roof shut during a heavy downpour — a tornado warning was in effect in the region — the thump-thump-thump of the rain created a bass beat that drowned out the usual sounds of a tennis match. It was so loud Stephens could barely hear the questions during her oncourt interview.

The conditions didn’t matter at all to defending champion Naomi Osaka, who advanced earlier in the day when her second-round opponent, Olga Danilovic, pulled out of the tournament because of what she said was a viral illness — but not the Covid19 virus.

Other past major title winners Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza and Victoria Azarenka moved on more conventionally with straight-set wins. Muguruza next faces Azarenka, who in addition to a pair of Australian Open trophies is a three-time runnerup at the US Open, including when she lost to Osaka in the final a year ago.

Osaka hasn’t been beaten in a Grand Slam match since losing to Gauff at the 2020 Australian Open.

And against Stephens, Gauff did briefly display the varied skills that helped her to that win and others on big stages, including twice against Venus Williams, and a run to the Roland Garros quarter-finals in June.

But Stephens, quite simply, was better. From 4-all at the outset, she claimed eight of the remaining 10 games, with a performance largely built with terrific placement of her serves and stinging forehands.

“The forehand,” she said, “was key today.”

Stephens, who was two points from losing to good friend Madison Keys on Monday in a rematch of their 2017 final in New York, won 39 of 49 points she served — an 80 per cent rate — and saved the lone break point she faced.

Stephens also handled her opponent’s faster serves adroitly, breaking three times.