Women’s current no. 2 woman, Simona Halep, is one of the world’s best and most respected. She’s got the wins, numbers, titles, championship experience… all that.
The big “however,” though, is what she’s been doing as of late. You’d be lying if you don’t think that Halep now has two consecutive early exits (Aegon International and Wimbledon Open), which is also topped off by the finals losses at the French Open and Madrid Masters. The ladies that edged her in those events weren’t scrubs, but there should at least be some concern that she’s continually failing to prove her ranking when it matters the most.
That, along with the shaky head-to-head record (3-2) with the might-as-well-be-unranked Sloane Stephens (926), is something to think about long and hard before laying some dough on Halep.
If you caught the previous paragraph, do know that it’s not a typo. Sloane Stephens is indeed listed all the way down to the 926th spot in the world rankings. And yes, even with the long layoff from the foot injury, it’s definitely too low for the 24-year-old.
Although Stephens is only in her second game back, with the previous one being a rust-filled performance (lost 6-2, 7-5 loss to Alison Riske at the Wimbledon Open), there’s good reason to believe that she’ll be progressing.
Against Halep, she should be able to have better rhythm and thus, perform a lot better. Stephens, who’s 23-10 overall in 2016 (12-6 on a hard court) has a pair of straight set wins over the Romanian powerhouse, with both being on a hard court – the same surface they will play on tomorrow.
Writer’s Prediction
Halep (-500) wins, but Stephens puts up a great fight.
