Stephens Stuns Serena for Trip to Aussie Open Semis
Nineteen-year-old American Sloane Stephens shocked world number three-ranked and fellow American Serena Williams on Wednesday at the 2013 Australian Open, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. The 29th-seeded Stephens advances to her first-ever Grand Slam semifinal with the win where she will face defending Australian Open Champion, top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, who overcame some early jitters to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1.
Serena had struggled with back problems during the match, winning the first set 6-3 before dropping her first set since last year’s U.S. Open, 5-7. Serena called for a trainer after the ninth game with the score 5-4 and on serve. At 2-1 and on the way to a changeover in the third set, Stephens frustrated Serena to the point where Serena destroyed her racket and tossed it under her chair.
Stephens began playing tennis at the age of nine, when her mother introduced the sport to her, and she changed to home-schooling at the age of 12, graduating from high school in 2011.
The 19-year-old entered the 2013 Australian Open as the 29th seed, and in the first round, cruised to victory against Simona Halep, 6-1, 6-1. In the second round, she defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3, and scored a third round victory over Laura Robson 7-5, 6-3, advancing to the Round of 16. She next defeated Bojana Jovanovsk 6-1, 3-6, 7-5, advancing to the quarterfinals Down Under and her encounter with Serena. The 31-year-old Serena is a 15-time major champion who had won 20 consecutive matches coming into the match against Stephens.
