Sloane Stephens looked invincible, her game not penetrable by Simona Halep’s smaller tennis game. Stephens was totally in her comfort zone as she appeared to be headed for a second Grand Slam tournament championship in less than a year. She was up 6-4, 2-0 in Saturday’s French Open women’s final. What could Halep do with her smaller package of dynamite? Stephens’ armor appeared to be too strong. When Stephens needed to win a big point, she could just ramp up her “easy power”, and Halep was virtually helpless.
EASY POWER TOO EASY
Stephens made things look so easy. Her ground strokes were flawlessly deep and penetrating. She didn’t have to go for winners. Stephens glided around the court, seemingly unflappable as she appeared to be wearing Halep into submission when she came up with a service break to start the second set. At that time, Stephens simply appeared to be the best player in the women’s game.
Then, it happened. Stephens netted a backhand that snapped her four-game winning streak.
Just like that, Stephens snapped. She no longer could win the pressure point. When she tried to turn up the amps, her feet, and hands and arms wouldn’t cooperate. They were getting the wrong messages from Stephens’ mental side. Everything looked tired.
THE TIDE CHANGES
The tide had changed for Stephens. The 25-year-old American suddenly didn’t get set up for backhands. Backhand balls started to consistently fly left off her racket, outside the lines. She even missed an open court to two.
Plus, Stephens’ somewhat lazy habit of reaching out in front of her without moving her feet forward to set up had looked a bit suspect in the first 10 games. And now that habit became a liability for Stephens.
The footwork had been good enough to keep Halep pinned deep on the baseline until Stephens could find an opening to exploit. That habit started producing balls that sailed over the baseline as Halep applied more pressure and power to her game. Stephens no longer could keep Halep’s relentless attack at bay.
Halep started flying around the court, making Stephens hit extra balls. Stephens couldn’t seem to put away shots, not even easy ones. Halep was everywhere, covering the red clay court like a blanket.
PANIC ARRIVES
Indecision started showing on Stephens’ once calm face. She didn’t panic for awhile, not even when she was dropping two straight love games to fall behind 3-2 in the second set.
But after Stephens got back to 4-4, she dropped back-to-back games that had been 30-30 to allow Halep to win the first set, and then lost four close games to start the third set. Stephens was in deep panic mode by then. She was far out of her comfort mode.
NO KEYS TO THE RESCUE
Madison Keys wasn’t on the other side of the net to donate points to Stephens with over-aggressiveness as she had been against Stephens in the semifinals and in last year’s U.S. Open final.
Trim, little 5-6, 130-pound Simona Halep wouldn’t give up even one point without a gallant fight. There were no free points for Stephens. No rest. No comfort.
Halep is as relentless as any player in the game, just smaller than most. But she has a giant heart.
This 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 breakthrough in a Grand Slam should push the Romanian fireball to new heights, even greater than her current No. 1 world ranking.
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James Beck is the long-time tennis columnist for the Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier newspaper. He can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com. See his Post and Courier columns at
