Birmingham 2024: Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick | Rothesay Classic
Match Details
Fixture: (WC) Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue
Date: June 17, 2024
Tournament: Rothesay Classic 2024
Round: First Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Edgbaston Priory Club, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Category: WTA 250
Surface: Grass
Prize Money: $267,082
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Tennis Channel, BBC TV
Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue preview
2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens will square off against Yuan Yue in the first round of the 2024 Rothesay Classic on Monday.
Third-round appearances at the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Open were Stephens' best results during the hardcourt season. She started off the clay swing on a promising note but it all went sideways pretty fast.
The American reached the third round of the Charleston Open in singles and captured the doubles title with Ashlyn Krueger. She then won her first singles title in over two years in Rouen, with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-2 win over Magda Linette in the final.
Stephens next reached the third round of the Madrid Open, losing to Maria Sakkari in straight sets. She was ousted by Yulia Putintseva in her opener at the Italian Open, and lost to the Kazakh once again in the first round of the French Open.
Yuan made the semifinals of the Hobart International as a qualifier at the start of the season. She struggled for the next few weeks but bounced back by winning the ATX Open in Austin, her maiden WTA title.
Yuan's good run of form continued at the Indian Wells Open, where she made the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 for the first time. She didn't taste the same level of success on clay as she concluded her time on the red dirt with a five-match losing streak, including a first-round exit from the French Open.
Yuan almost lost her first match on grass last week but staged a comeback to beat Diana Shnaider 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round of the Libema Open. She then lost to Biana Andreescu in straight sets.
Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue head-to-head
The two have split their previous two meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Stephens won their most recent encounter at the 2024 Open Capfinances in Rouen in straight sets.
Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Sloane Stephens vs Yuan Yue prediction
Neither player is in great form at the moment. Yuan has lost six of her last seven matches, while Stephens is on a three-match winning streak. The Chinese already got a headstart on her grass swing as she competed at last week's Libema Open, and notched her first main draw win on the surface.
Stephens hasn't performed that well on grass in recent years and has a 1-3 record on the surface since 2022. Additionally, she hasn't won a match on grass outside of Wimbledon since 2015, when she made the semifinals in Eastbourne.
Despite her less-than-stellar record on grass, Stephens still has more experience on the surface compared to Yuan. This match could go either way given their form but the American has slightly better odds of making it through.
Pick: Sloane Stephens to win in three sets.