Sloane Stephens didn’t just achieve her
best Grand Slam result by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open
– she’s also one up on her good friend Sam Querrey.
Stephens and Querrey, who lost in the
third round of men’s singles, share a coach, David Nainkin. They’ve
developed a good-natured rivalry about who’s rising faster in the
rankings.
With her run to the semifinals at
Melbourne Park, Stephens will improve to No. 17 from No. 29 in the
rankings next week, while Querrey is not expected to rise much higher
than his current No. 22.
‘’Sam Querrey sent me a message and said,
‘You might be ahead of me on Monday, but in three weeks, I’m going to
be ahead of you,’’’ the 19-year-old Stephens said after her
straight-sets loss to No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the semi-finals on
Thursday. ‘’I have to keep working because I want to stay in front of
him.’’
The Americans haven’t made a wager over
who will be ranked higher by the end of the year – there’s just pride at
stake, Stephens said.
‘’Obviously egos are big,’’ she said earlier this week. ‘’This is tennis, so somebody’s going to win.’’
Stephens was disappointed she didn’t
follow up her big win over 15-time major winner Serena Williams in the
quarterfinals with a better match against Azarenka, but her overall
performance at the tournament far exceeded her expectations at the start
of the season.
‘’I’m obviously coming out of the
Australian summer with amazing momentum, knowing I can pretty much hang
in there with anybody and even beat some of the best players,’’ she
said. ‘’It’s definitely a good feeling.’
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