Sloane Stephens held her nerve in an error-strewn WTA Miami Open Final to beat Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 and lift the prestigious title
for the first time on Saturday March 31,2018
Florida native Stephens, who has now won
all six finals she has competed in, had been determined to win the last
tournament at Key Biscayne before it moves next year. However a nervy
final was not easy on the eye with both players appearing to be
struggling to get to grips with the occasion. There were eight breaks of
serve in the first set alone -- that total eventually ended up at 12 --
with French Open champion Ostapenko hitting 48 unforced errors compared
to US Open champion Stephens making 21 during the entire one hour and
32 minutes.
The
triumph for the American, however, capped an impressive campaign which
saw victories over grand slam winners Garbine Muguruza, Angelique
Kerber, Victoria Azarenka before Ostapenko was also dispatched.
"I
knew I would have to run a lot of balls down, you have to accept she
will hit great shots so I didn't worry about that too much," said a
delighted Stephens, who will be named in the WTA top 10 for the first
time when the new rankings are released on Monday April 02,2018
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