Roland Garros 2021: Sloane Stephens vs Barbora Krejcikova preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: Sloane Stephens vs Barbora Krejcikova
Date: 7 June 2021
Tournament: Roland Garros 2021
Round: Fourth round (Round of 16)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: €17,171,108
Live telecast: USA - NBC Sports / Tennis Channel | UK - ITV | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Sloane Stephens vs Barbora Krejcikova preview
2018 Roland Garros runner-up Sloane Stephens will aim for a return to the quarterfinals of the claycourt Major when she meets World No. 33 Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round on Monday.
Having endured a slump for a couple of years, Stephens has put together a resurgent run this year. Buoyed by a semi-final showing at Parma, the former US Open champion is now into the fourth round of a Slam for the first time since making the quarters in Paris back in 2019.
Two of Stephens' wins this week have come against seeded opponents - she knocked out ninth seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round and 18th seed Karolina Muchova in the third. The American will be hoping to continue her journey in the French capital armed with the confidence gained from those impressive wins.
Barbora Krejcikova, on the other hand, has always been known more for her doubles prowess. The Czech is a five-time Slam champion in doubles, and has also been ranked World No. 1 in that category.
It was at Roland Garros last year where Krejcikova first proved herself in singles. Reaching the fourth round of a Major for the first time in her career helped catapult the 25-year-old up the singles rankings ladder.
So far in 2021, Krejcikova has reached the final in Dubai and lifted the trophy (the first of her career) in Strasbourg. She has also been successful in carrying her momentum into the French Open this week, where she has now emulated her 2020 result.
The World No. 33 has upset two seeds on her way to last-16, with fifth seed Elina Svitolina being her highest-ranked victim. Krejcikova's thumping 6-3, 6-2 win over the World No. 6 would have given her immense confidence ahead of a tough fourth-round clash with Stephens.
Sloane Stephens vs Barbora Krejcikova head-to-head
Sloane Stephens and Barbora Krejcikova have never crossed paths on the tour before, so their current head-to-head stands at a 0-0 deadlock.
Sloane Stephens vs Barbora Krejcikova prediction
The biggest factor in Stephens' career revival has been the intelligence with which she has been playing. The 28-year-old has been mixing up her pace and spins well, and hitting consistently with depth.
Stephens' ability to slide well on clay and to use the slice-and-dropshot combination when in trouble has also reaped rich dividends. And the serve has fetched her plenty of success this week, as evident from the 84% first serves that she landed against Muchova.
However, Stephens does still have a tendency to cough up wild unforced errors on occasion. And she will need to keep her errors in check against someone like Barbora Krejcikova, who has a lot of variety.
The Czech is solid from the baseline as well as at the net, and will look to come forward at every opportunity. Against Svitolina, Krejcikova converted 14 of her 18 net points, constantly putting the Ukrainian under pressure.
Stephens cannot afford to give Krejcikova any short balls, as the Czech won't hesitate to smack them away for winners. But if she maintains the depth on her groundstrokes and also continues serving well, Stephens would fancy her chances of getting back into the French Open quarters.
Prediction: Sloane Stephens to win in two tight sets.
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