Sloane Stephens
(May 27, 2013). Americans went 8-4 in Paris on the day 2 of the French Open. Here is a look at how they all fared:
First round: Sloane Stephens (17) (USA) def. Karin Knapp (ITA) 6-2, 7-5
In a bit of a slump since reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open and the recent coverage of her controversial comments during an ESPN magazine interview, Stephens said that she was positive about her win.
“Obviously really excited to be back here. Had a great year last year, and this was one of my favorite tournaments. So it’s good to be back and playing a lot better than a couple weeks ago.
Just excited to be back on the court and playing well again.
Stephens commented on the media attention since her ESPN interview after aftermath off-court:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s been okay for me. Obviously I haven’t had that many good results leading up to the clay season, so to get some match in on my favorite surface and get some confidence back and kind of just start feeling ball better.
“It wasn’t that my mind wasn’t on the court. I just needed to find a balance, and obviously that’s tough.
“I’m only 20 years old, so I have a lot to learn and a long ways to go. Just finding the right balance is what we’re doing.
“It’s been fine for me. My really good friend came and my mom is here. I’m just having a good time. It’s been fun.
“I mean, obviously attention is attention. It comes, it goes. When you’re winning they love it; when you’re losing they love it. It’s all the same really.”
First round: John Isner (19) (USA) def. Carlos Berlocq (ARG) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
First round: Varvara Lepchenko (29)(USA) def. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 6-1, 6-2
First round: Martin Klizan def. Michael Russell (USA) 3-6 6-3 6-1 Ret. Left hamstring injury
First round: Madison Keys (USA) def. Misaki Doi (JPN) 6-3, 6-2
At 18, Keys is the youngest of the American women in the main draw. She is No. 58 in the world.
First round: Jana Cepelova (SVK) def. Christina McHale (USA) 7-6(3) 2-6 6-4
McHale who was struck with glandular fever last year is ranked 53rd in the world.
First round: Albert Montanes(ESP) def. Steve Johnson (USA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
The former NCAA champion Johnson extended the recent Nice Open titlist to five sets.
First round: Ryan Harrison (USA) def. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4)
Harrison will play fellow American and Davis Cup teammate John Isner in the second round.
First round: Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) def. Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) 6-4, 6-1
With 15 women in the main draw of the French Open at the beginning of the tournament, Mattek is proud of so many U. S. women moving up in the rankings. “It’s a great group of girls coming up. They’re talented. They’re all pretty fun to be around. They got good personalities.”
She commented that just a few years ago, people kept asking her about the state of U.S. women’s tennis.
First round: Vania King (USA) def. Alexandra Cadantu (ROU) 7-6(3), 6-1
King made it through to the main draw by going through the qualifying tournament.
First round: Michal Przysiezny (POL) def. (LL) Rhyne Williams (USA) 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 7-5
Williams who came into the tournament as a lucky loser, lost to the same person who defeated him in the final round of the Qualifying tournament.
First round: Melanie Oudin (USA) def. Tamira Paszek (28) (AUT) 6-4, 6-3
Almost four years ago Oudin made it to the quarterfinals of the U. S. Open as 17-year-old. She spoke about pressure on her then as an American player.
“I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself after everything, “she said to media. “It’s a totally different story now. There’s so many Americans now coming up, and so many in the top 100. It is nice to not have it all on me….I mean, it really was all on me at that time. Like, besides the Williams sisters, everyone was like, `Oh, who’s going to be the next upcoming American?’ And it’s like, `OK, it’s going to be Melanie, because you got to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.’ It was a lot. And I was young.”