Sloane Stephens talks about the pressure on seeded players
American Sloane Stephens earned her entry to the second round of the French Open main draw by bypassing Misaki Doi 6-3 7-6(4). Funnily, the World No. 7’s final score is very similar to Kristina Mladenovic’s 6-3 7-6(3) win over Fiona Ferrero earlier this Sunday. The American and the French might meet in semifinal.
Obviously, when you're playing an opponent, at any point they can start playing better, change what they are doing,” Stephens said about her challenging final set. “I think she changed it up a little bit and she raised her level. I just had to match her there at the end, and I think I did that pretty well. Just keep executing and stay the course.”
Regarding the pressure felt during first rounds for tournament favourites, the 2017 US Open titleholder explained, “I think the first round for everyone is exactly that. It's the first round, and everyone can be nervous, anyone can win, an underdog can beat the No. 1 seed. That's how it is.
It's a little nerve-wracking but I think most of the time, at least for me, once I get through it, I don't feel those butterflies anymore. I'm okay. We got started. Good to go. Let's get it going. Definitely, the first round is, like, All right, let's get it out of the way.
There is so much pressure on it and everyone is waiting for a huge upset, to write about something. ‘Oh, why did she even play, why did she whatever, she's terrible, No. 3 seed’. That's just the stress behind.
But I think once you get past that it's okay. But there are times where you're, like, How did that person -- you do question it. But I have been in that position before. It's not fun, but sometimes it just happens. You play a sport, you're playing against somebody else. It happens to the best of us.”
Because there is a first time to everything, this Roland Garros marks the first Sunday draw the start for the American, who reflected on it with some humour, “It's kind of weird. I don't know what's happening. I'm super confused with what's happening with the draw. Someone told me I play on Wednesday now, which is, like, a long time from now? I don't know what I'm even going to do with myself. Yeah, it's a little bit strange, tricky. Then the whole top half, bottom half, you guys know, I don't know much anyway. Making it complicated is too much for me.”
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VP1puk
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