WHAT HAPPENED: Sloane Stephens got in the win column for the first time this side of the WTA’s COVID-19 hiatus with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu in Round 1 of the 2020 US Open.
This was Buzarnescu's first WTA match since September, after a long-term shoulder injury sidelined her since September of 2019. And while Stephens was playing just her third match since the season's resumption, the No. 26 seed was comfortably the sharper woman on Court 17.
A strong start put the American in control, as she fought through deuce in three of the opening four games to take a 4-0 lead. The 32-year-old Romanian hit back to close to 5-3, but Stephens was able to break for a third time in the opening set to cement her advantage.
Set two was tight until the American forced the issue to break in the fifth game, successfully approaching the net twice from deuce in what was the turning point of the second stanza. Stephens then won eight of the next nine points to forge ahead, 5-2, and later served out the match with her second straight love hold, punching her second-round ticket with a backhand winner. She finished the match with 13 winners and 15 unforced errors.
"I thought I played well tonight," Stepens said in a post-match presser. "Obviously haven't been playing that great. Still kind of finding my confidence and my rhythm.
"Tonight I felt a little bit better on the court. I felt I had a better rhythm. I just kind of felt more like my old self. That's really all I'm really working towards."
WHAT IT MEANS: A struggling Stephens has an opportunity to recapture some magic at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of her surprise 2017 US Open title. And while she was not at her world-beating best, Stephens will gain a measure of confidence with this relatively comfortable victory.
The American carried a 1-7 record for 2020 into the US Open, where she was also a quarterfinalist in 2018, but avoided a repeat of her first-round ouster (vs. Anna Kalinskaya) in New York last summer.
Stephens has suffered five losses to players outside of the WTA's Top 100 in 2020. She handled the No. 122-ranked Buzarnescu in Round 1, and will now face Olga Govortsova, ranked No. 130, in the second round.
MATCH POINT: A potential third-round matchup with Serena Williams is on the horizon for Stephens, and both Americans will be heavy favorites to win in Round 2. While Stephens takes on Govortsova, Serena faces Margarita Gasparyan, who sits at No. 117 in the WTA Rankings.
