Sloane Stephens in early Hobart WTA exit

Murray Wenzel | January 9, 2023

Sloane Stephens’ wheels are spinning after a second straight loss to begin the year halted the momentum of the former US Open champion’s resurgent 2022.

Stephens lost 6-2 6-2 to qualifier and fellow American Lauren Davis in the Hobart International first round on Monday, a week after suffering the same fate at a tournament in Auckland.

Stephens, a former world No.3 who won the US Open in 2017, broke a four-year title drought last year and made the French Open quarter-finals to climb back to No.36 in the rankings.

But Davis, ranked almost 50 places further back, was in complete control in sunny but testing conditions in Tasmania.

“I felt really good; it was pretty gusty out there, the wind swirling a bit. It could have got under my skin,” Davis said.

“I’m really happy with how I handled myself. It got a little bit stressful there towards the end but I got it together and (I’m) really happy to have won here.”

It leaves Stephens short of match practice heading into next week’s Australian Open.

Tournament top seed and World No.26 Marie Bouzkova also suffered some yips in the wind before coming back from 2-5 down in the first set to beat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.

The two Australian hopes in the draw, wildcards Olivia Gadecki and Talia Gibson, were both ousted in straight sets.

Gadecki showed plenty of fight in her 6-4 7-5 loss to lucky loser Xinyu Wang, while 18-year-old Gibson – the youngest player in the Hobart main draw – fell 6-3 6-2 to 35-year-old German veteran Tatjana Maria.

The pair will both get a crack in round one of the Australian Open, after being granted wildcards.

“I’m a bit disappointed, but fought to the very end. There’s a lot of things to take from this match, a lot of positives,” Gadecki said.

In other first-round action, Laura Siegemund rallied from a set behind to beat Tereza Martincova 5-7 6-1 6-2 while Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina was too good for Canada’s Rebecca Marino, 6-2 6-1.