Sloane Stephens vs Serena Williams: US Open women's singles third round preview

In a unique all-American showdown, Serena Williams will clash with Sloane Stephens for a place in the round of 16 at US Open 2020. Third seed Serena Williams will hope to continue her perfect run at Flushing Meadows, where she has not dropped a single set so far. However, it will be far from smooth sailing for the former World No.1 as she looks to continue her streak against Stephens, who has also won both her games in straight sets heading into this contest. 

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US Open 2020: Sloane Stephens vs Serena Williams preview

While both Williams and Stephens have had perfect runs at US Open 2020, their records coming into the tournament have been fairly average. Williams last played at the Cincinnati Masters where she lost to Greece's Maria Sakkari in the third round despite winning the first set. Her last Grand Slam appearance was at this year's Australian Open where she faced another third-round defeat, going down 4-6, 7-6, 5-7, to China's Wang Qiang. In 2018, she lost her US Open final in straight sets to Naomi Osaka after being penalised a game for abusing the chair umpire. In 2019, she lost the US Open final in straight sets once again, this time to Canadian Bianca Andreescu. The statistics, however, favour her in this matchup. Out of their seven meetings, Williams has won 5. 

Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open women's singles titleholder, comes into the tournament having lost to Caroline Garcia in straight sets at Cincinnati. She also had a dismal run at the Australian Open this year, crashing out in the first round, after a 6-2, 5-7, 2-6 loss against the unseeded Zhang Shuai. Stephens first came into the limelight after her 2013 Australian Open win against Serena Williams, then ranked No.3 in the world. 

Talking to reporters after her second-round win over MargaritaGasparyan, Serena praised Stephens, saying: "It's an incredibly interesting match because she's actually a US Open champion. She's a great player. You can't win a Grand Slam and not be really, really, really, really, really good." 

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Where to watch US Open 2020 live in India

The Sloane Stephens vs Serena Williams, round three match of the US Open 2020 is slated to begin at 11:10 pm IST. It will be televised on Star Sports Select 1/2 and Disney+Hotstar. The match will take place at the Arthur Ashe stadium.

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Image credits: US Open Twitter