The Wimbledon Interview: Stephens powers past Bacsinszky in opener

On Tuesday, ninth seed Sloane Stephens passed her Wimbledon first-round test by powering past Timea Bacsinszky, 6-2, 6-4.

"It was tricky. Obviously the last time I played her was at Fed Cup," said Stephens during her post-match interview at the Tennis Channel desk. "So we played in like a fast indoor court and she was slicing and dicing me all over the place. And I was like on a slow court, on grass, I don't know how it's going to be. But I think the court was just so slow today that it actually kind of worked in my favor."

Stephens, who won her first Grand Slam at the 2017 US Open and contested the final of the French Open the following year, achieved her best result at the All England Club in 2015 when she advanced to the quarterfinals. The grass-court major is the only major Stephens is yet to reach the semifinals at.

"I haven't had my best results here but I think I do like it a lot," said Stephens. "When I started playing again in 2017, I started here."

The American next faces Yafan Wang, who took out Tereza Martincova, 6-2, 7-5.