By Ron Wynn
There are now no Americans, male or female, left at the French Open following Sloane Stephens’ loss to Simona Halep Monday.
Stephens had a better record in Grand Slams than in regular tournaments, but wasn’t on her game against the fourth-seeded Halep. Halep won 6-4, 6-3, and things weren’t close after the opening set.
Stephens and Halep were tied 4-4, but then Halep won the final two games to close out the set, then added the first two in the second. Stephens’ ground strokes, overall court strategy and energy weren’t where they needed to overcome problems she had with her service.
Stephens’ repeatedly failed to hold serve, being bro- ken six of nine times. She also had 35 unforced errors to 25 for Halep. It was her fourth loss in the round of 16 at a Grand Slam. Stephens has yet to break through to the quarters, semi-finals or finals of a major.
But while the Stephens’ defeat was somewhat expected, the loss that number one ranked Serena Williams suffered last week was not. She was defeated 6-2,6-2 by 20-year-old Garbine Muguruza of Spain, the first time in two years that she’s lost before the third round of a Grand Slam.
“I’m going to go home and work as hard as I ever have to make sure that I never lose again,” Williams told USA Today. It was in 2012 that Williams was beaten by Virginie Razzano in the opening round of the French Open, leading some to wonder whether she was done as a top-ranked player.
Since that time, Williams has compiled a resume that’s returned her to the top of the world’s rankings. Besides last year’s French Open, she’s also the defending champion at Wimbledon, which is the next stop among Grand Slam tournaments. Venus Williams also was bounced in the second round by 19-year-old Anna Schmiedlova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Oddly, her defeat concluded only minutes before Serena’s began. Had the sisters reached the fourth round they would have faced each other for the first time since 2009.
John Isner, seeded 10th, was the last American man remaining. He was defeated Sunday by sixth-seeded Thomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. A service break in each set was Isner’s undoing. He was trying to become the first American male to reach the quarterfinals since 2011. Things are even dimmer for American men when the world rankings are assessed. There is no one in the Top 10. Isner at number 11 is the only American male in the World Tennis Association’s Top 60.
With the French Open men’s and women’s titles still to be decided this week, once again the networks airing the event (NBC and ESPN) faced the prospect of trying to get American viewers to watch despite having nothing except Europeans in the field.