Sloane Stephens 21/20 | Elise Mertens 15/20
Nobody can accuse Sloane Stephens of missing battle in her first-round defeat to Haddad Maia on the US Open. She fought again from a set down and pushed the Brazilian all the way in which within the third.
The 2017 US Open champion has managed to maintain maintain of a prime 40 rating this yr after a collection of improved performances within the latter a part of the season. Within the first half of the season, Stephens solely gained 4 of 11 hardcourt matches.
This included opening spherical defeats in 5 tournaments. However her 13-5 report on clay actually gave her season a lift. And he or she appeared to carry a few of that rejuvenated kind into the North American hardcourt season, going to the third spherical in three of her US Open precursors (choosing up victories over the likes of Caroline Garcia and Mirra Andreeva within the course of).
The previous World No.3 might be hoping {that a} disappointing exit in New York doesn’t derail all her latest good work.
Counterpunching Belgian Elise Mertens got here as shut as anybody to placing an finish to Coco Gauff’s latest blitzkrieg of the ladies’s recreation. She led the American by a set of their US Open third spherical match.
That was till Gauff discovered her vary and relegated Mertens to a bagel within the decider. Nonetheless, Mertens may have picked up some actual confidence from her New York journey. She memorably knocked out the ever-popular Danielle Collins within the 2nd spherical of the US Open (saving two match-points within the course of).
Look, it’s fairly apparent that Mertens has been extra profitable on the doubles tour over the previous couple of years. However she nonetheless has the capability to be aggressive in opposition to anybody on her day. She reached the semi-finals at this yr’s Monterrey Open earlier than a extremely encouraging 4th spherical run at Roland Garros.
She is a previous grasp on more durable surfaces, twice reaching the US Open quarterfinals and choosing up a profession finest semi-final berth on the 2018 Aussie Open.
Verdict: Mertens to win in three at 7/2
These two share the head-to-head spoils 1-1. Having stated that, their final assembly got here all the way in which again in 2018, with the American easing previous Mertens within the 4th spherical of the US Open.
That is an attention-grabbing match-up as each gamers are likely to choose absorbing stress and redirecting pictures. This could make for a cagey encounter and I believe the participant with essentially the most persistence will finally prevail. That’s why I believe Mertens may very well be the one to emerge victorious right here. Stephens could also be pissed off into forcing the difficulty and will begin to spray errors.
