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Sloane Stephens defeated Marie Bouzkova in the final of the Guadalajara Open on Sunday to win the title in Mexico. The American needed two hours and 28 minutes to quell her Czech opponent, 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. At the start of the match, it was Bouzkova who took a lead in the proceedings by going up an early break in the first set.
However, she was pegged back by the sixth seed to bring the set back on serve. Stephens secured a break for herself in the 11th game that gave her the opportunity to serve for the set and went about doing so, convincingly. The second set saw Bouzkova dominate the game once again and this time around, she didn’t let her double-break lead slip away from her.
The deciding set saw Stephens break Bouzkova in the sixth game and thereafter, there was no looking back for her in the match.
Guadalajara Open: Sloane Stephens' seventh heaven
Talking about her win, post-match, Stephens said, “It’s the beginning of the season, so there’s still a lot of tennis to be played, but I’m excited to be able to put some matches together.
Excited that I was able to do that, get a title, and hopefully continue on with that momentum. I think I prepared all last year, I committed to training and my fitness and everything. Obviously, I didn’t get results right away, but now seeing the fruits of that labour blossom is nice.
I still want to get back to where I was, that’s still really important to me. I think it’s possible, it’s doable, so I’m really excited about that”. For Sloane Stephens, the Guadalajara Open title put an end to a protracted wait for a title – going back almost five years, since she won the Miami Open in 2018.
Meanwhile, Marie Bouzkova’s wait for her first WTA title continues, with her now having lost all three of the finals she’s contested so far.