Sloane Stephens saw her slow start to the season continue Wednesday when she lost to 17-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the second round of the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico.
Stephens, a 26-year-old Florida native who was seeded fifth, fell 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3. The former U.S. Open champion is now 1-5 on the season, with the losses coming to opponents ranked 129th, 201st, 35th, 270th and now 126th (Fernandez)
Also advancing to the quarterfinals in Monterrey were sixth-seeded Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, eighth-seeded Yafan Wang of China and ninth-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic.
Open 6eme Sens
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin cruised to a first-round win in Lyon, France, beating Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko 6-4, 6-3.
The 21-year-old American, seeded first in the event, saved half of the six break points she faced while converting six of her 18 break opportunities.
All other action Wednesday was second-round matches, with third-seeded Caroline Garcia of France, fourth-seeded Alize Cornet of France and fifth-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium all advancing to the quarterfinals. Uytvanck pulled out a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova.
-Field Level Media
