Champions Corner: Charleston Champs
Simplicity suits Sloane Stephens. The 23-year-old American is up to No.21 in the world after capturing her third title of the season and the biggest one of her career this weekend at the Volvo Car Open. Her run to the title, which included wins over Angelique Kerber (by retirement), Daria Kasatkina, and Daria Gavrilova, was her first at a Premier level event. But the milestone seemed inevitable given Stephens’ recent turnaround. Since snapping an 0-6 record in semifinals last year, Stephens is now 4-0 in finals.
If you ask Stephens for an explanation for the turnaround, you’ll get no precise answer. The change and improvements in her game have been gradual and are clearly tied to confidence. She won her first title last year at the Citi Open under then-coach Nick Saviano. After teaming up with Kamau Murray in the off-season, Stephens has improved in her focus, fight, and execution. When she was behind the eight-ball in Charleston, such as being down match point to Kasatkina in the quarterfinals, Stephens didn’t shirk. She played bolder and more confidently, and pulled the match back on her terms. She did the same in the final, where she nearly let a 5-2 lead slip away in the first set before running away with the tiebreaker to win 7-6(4), 6-2 over Elena Vesnina.
WTA Insider spoke to Stephens via phone after her big win in Charleston.
WTA Insider: Now that the first quarter of the season is over and we’re about transition to red clay, can you look back and assess your first three-four months? You must be happy with how well you’ve started the year.
Stephens: Yeah definitely. Obviously with three titles it’s been good. Going into the clay court season I’m looking forward to it because I love clay. Yeah, it’s been a good start to the year, good start to the clay court season, so I’m excited to get over to Europe.
WTA Insider: What’s the difference between how you’re playing right now as opposed to a year ago?
Stephens: I’m playing better, just competing and fighting and enjoying being out on the court. It’s definitely a long journey. Just taking it step by step, day by day, but learning a lot of about myself and my game, just looking to improve on court which has been the most important.
WTA Insider: When you say you’ve learned a lot about yourself and your game, can you be more specific? What have you learned?
Stephens: Just general things. What I like to do on the court, what makes me comfortable, what works for me basically. I’ve found a way to make things happen for myself and I think that’s the most important.
WTA Insider: Have any of the things you’ve learned about yourself surprised you?
Stephens: Not really. Just a matter of execution and knowing what you have to do on the court. I think at some times there were question marks in my head about what I wanted to do and just to be able to execute and focus on what I need to do is the probably the best thing.
WTA Insider: When I watch you play I’m sometimes reminded of Svetlana Kuznetsova, insofar as you’re both incredible athletes who have the ability to play different gamestyles and hit a variety of shots. Sometimes that variety can make the game complicated. You have so many options that a player can be paralyzed when it comes to decision-making. Does any of that ring true to you?
Stephens: I don’t know, I can hit a lot of shots and adjust well to other players game styles. So I guess…yeah? But being able to hit a lot of different shots and be able to adjust to how my opponents play has been a strong aspect of my game.
In the moment I don’t think you’re thinking about do I hit this shot or that shot. You do what’s natural. You don’t overthink it.
WTA Insider: What is working so well with Kamau Murray?
Stephens: We work well together. He’s a good coach. I’ve had good results. I mean anything that a good coach should have, good chemistry, things are going well, I’m winning tournaments. I couldn’t ask for much more.
WTA Insider: Is he saying things that other coaches have always told you, just in a voice and manner that strikes a chord in you? Or is he bringing something new and different to your game?
Stephens: No, I just think we have good chemistry, we work well together. At this point when I’m No.25 in the world there’s not much in my game that he could change that would make me a different player. There are things that when you click better with a certain coach or understand a different coach better, there are things that work better with certain people. And I think we have a good chemistry so, I don’t know, we make things happen.
WTA Insider: What aspect of your season are you most proud about?
Stephens: Just competing. Just being able to stay in the moment on the court and in the matches. All three of my finals have been tough this year. So it’s been nice to be able to edge those out and stay focused on court. I think that’s been really good.
WTA Insider: You’re not playing Fed Cup and you’re not in action until the Madrid Open. Can you talk through your mindset in how you put together your clay schedule? Why skip Stuttgart?
Stephens: I’ve just always played that schedule. I like Madrid, I like Rome, I like red clay. So it’s easy. I think being an American playing Indian Wells and Miami is tough because there’s a lot going on. So I think for me, Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, it’s been a lot. So it’ll be nice to take a break and then go back to Europe because we’re going to be there for a month, maybe longer. I think it’s just planning so as to not overwork yourself before you get to clay season.
WTA Insider: So I understand you’re headed straight home to LA tonight. What are you looking forward to the most about LA?
Stephens: My bed. Definitely.
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It was an emotionally challenging week for Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia but it was one that ended in smiles rather than tears. The French duo picked up their first title as a team by beating the streaking Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova 6-2 7-5. After making two finals already this season, it was the perfect result for the pair, who will undoubtedly feature prominently in France’s bid to win the Fed Cup as well as their desire to medal at the Olympics.
WTA Insider caught up with Garcia and Mladenovic after their big win.
WTA Insider: You paired up this year and already made two finals. Now you finally get the title. What does it mean to you?
Mladenovic: It definitely means a lot. Third time’s the charm. We’re both so excited, proud, and relieved we got this one under our belt and the first team trophy for us.
Garcia: We both lost 7-6 in the third in singles. You know that for me it’s been a difficult beginning of the week. [Note: Garcia was the subject of unfounded allegations by the media in her match against Irina Camelia Begu. The WTA conducted a full investigation and found no evidence of misconduct.] A lot of things have been hurting me personally and very deep. I was taking a lot of pleasure in doubles and making me think of something else. Also it made me learn things outside of the court and it helped me play better inside the court.
WTA Insider: You’re both primarily singles players. How do you balance the two disciplines? In Charleston you both lost early in singles.
Mladenovic: It’s not an easy balance. Honestly, doubles is the best practice I can have for my singles. For example, now this is the first week on clay, we can get a lot of matches under our belt. I’m also this week working on a few things in my game. Just to be able to have an opportunity to work on these things on court and competing — an official doubles match can replace practices.
To get trophies and titles like this is very meaningful. It definitely helps my singles game. I feel like today I’m a lot more confident and it for sure helps for the singles game. You just try and push yourself. ‘Ok, I lost in singles but I’m going to try and do great in doubles and to work on things.’
WTA Insider: Does playing doubles make you a better pressure player?
Mladnenovic: Yeah, definitely. I remember for example, I was privileged to win mixed doubles titles with Daniel Nestor in Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and also I remember in the juniors when I won the French Open. All those experiences, with big pressure, big moments, history, all of these little details, this pressure, you practice to feel it so you believe it will be routine.
When I go out there, I have so many examples of matches at home, all these matches — maybe that’s why I’m doing well so far at the French Open — when I get on the big courts I have this feeling inside of me — I’ve been there before, it’s familiar to me. So I know how to handle the nerves and pressure. When you play tennis you want to be a champion. You’re looking every day for this pressure. It’s a feeling I personally live for because I know in the normal life I know i would never find this adrenaline.
Garcia: Maybe it helps you a little bit to manage the stress at the important points. But it’s also different. You are not alone on court, you can talk to the other one, and the other one can talk to you, to encourage you to stay positive. Of course you have to take care of yourself on court.
WTA Insider: Was the motivation any different for you two in Charleston? You had a big Fed Cup tie coming up, plus you lost early in the tournament. Was it difficult to stay committed?
Mladenovic: Before the tournament our Fed Cup Captain Amelie Mauresmo was not really 100% for us playing here because she wanted us to be back in Europe early for the jet lag and everything for the Fed Cup semifinals next week. We decided to play because we needed it for the confidence. We have common goals and when we play we play 100%.
Garcia: We always thought our goal was to win the title but we just take it match by match. But we didn’t care about next week. We were just enjoying our time in Charleston. It’s a great tournament, there are a lot of people who come to watch you. You can’t just pull out and say it doesn’t matter. that is not the point of view of Kristina and I and our teams. So when we enter, we play until the end.
It’s such a good feeling to finish the week like this. That’s the beauty of it. At the end of the week we are the doubles champions of a great event. It’s a lot of confidence and I’m sure it will help us do great next week. That’s the feeling we’re having now. We’re excited to fly and join the rest of the team to try and make the final.
All photos courtesy of Volvo Car Open.