Sloane Stephens battled back from a poor first set to topple Germany’s Tatjana Maria 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 on the first day of the Upper Austria Ladies Linz on Monday in Linz, Austria.
Stephens and Maria held serve throughout the second set, but Stephens raced out to leads of 5-1 and 6-2 in the tiebreaker before hanging on to win on her fourth set point. Maria saved three match points in the ninth game of the third set to pull within 5-4 and saved a fourth match point before finally succumbing.
Stephens’ reward is a second-round date with No. 1 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who had a bye.
The 33-year-old former U.S. Open champion, who saved 12 of 15 break points Monday, is seeking her first title since April 2024 and just her third in the last eight years. She’s fallen to 552nd in the world rankings while Maria entered the week a solid 61st.
Only two other matches were held Monday. Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania fended off Great Britain’s Katie Boulter 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), while Hungary’s Dalma Galfi beat Alycia Parks of the U.S. 6-3, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
