In one of the best matches of the tournament so far, No.8 seed Sloane Stephens defeated qualifier Lauren Davis 6-3 4-6 7-5 to set up a semi-final meeting with Russian Elena Vesnina.
This match was destined to be one of the matches of the tournament. Featuring two Americans, both 19 years of age, both in career best form and both wanting to break through for maiden WTA titles.
Sloane Stephens has become the unspoken favourite to take the tournament following all the hype surrounding her performance at the Brisbane International last week. Davis on the other hand definitely entered this match as the underdog, despite getting the better of Stephens in their only previous encounter, an 18s hard court USTA Nationals match.
All seemed to be going to plan for the world No.29 from Florida, taking the first set 6-3 and looking to be on track to make the semis comfortably. That all changed early in the second set when her diminutive compatriot, Lauren Davis, raced to an early 3-0 lead. Davis was able to hold on to these two early breaks to take the second stanza 6-4 and send the match to a deciding set.
The finals set of this match featured entertaining tennis. Both players traded breaks early with explosive winners coming from both ends of the court. In trouble at 30-15 in the ninth game Stephens kept her cool, producing her seventh ace of the match to hold serve as the battle continued. Crossing the two and a half hour mark at 5-4 in the third, Stephens wasted two match points on her opponents serve to keep Davis’ hopes alive. Davis played like her life depended on the match, but in the end Stephens was just too good, finally pulling through to get the crucial break and take the set 7-5.
By Nick Cuthbertson