Big Upsets of '18, No. 9: Zhang stuns Stephens

Enjoy a look back at the biggest upsets of the season, starting at No. 10 and counting all the way down to the top stunner of the year.

If one were to look back at the history of Grand Slam achievements in tennis, Sloane Stephens’ win at the 2017 US Open would rank among the greatest feats, considering how she spent the bulk of the prior 12 months sidelined due to injury.

After that victory, though, the American was unable to sustain any momentum as she closed the year losing her last six matches. 2018 offered the opportunity to hit the reset button, but she got off to a rough start in Sydney, winning only three games against Camila Giorgi in her opening match.

Next up was the Australian Open.

Seeded 13th, Stephens entered the match with a 2-1 lead in her matches against Shuai Zhang, but the veteran had won their most recent encounter nearly four years earlier. Stephens raced through the first set, taking it 6-2. In a much tighter second, Zhang broke Stephens when she served for the match at 5-4, then clinched that frame in a tiebreak. After that, it was Zhang’s turn to turn up the heat as she won the decider 6-2, leaving Stephens without a victory in her last eight matches.

Stephens made her first major breakthrough at the 2013 Australian Open as she advanced to the semifinals. Zhang, too, knew prior success in Melbourne, the site of her only career major quarterfinal back in 2016. This time, she was unable to build upon a convincing win as she fell in the next round.

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