It’s time to ring the bell for an All-American clash at the ‘City of one-hundred Bells’. Sloane Stephens takes on Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Open Capfinances Rouen Metropole. Who will win this intriguing battle at the banks of the River Seine in northern France? This WTA 250 clay court tournament was introduced in 2022 and both the players haven’t played in this tournament yet. It’ll be interesting to see how they approach this match from the word go.

The tournament is scheduled to start on April 15 and will go on till April 21. The 31-year-old Sloane Stephens has vast experience on the women’s circuit. While the 22-year-old Peyton Stearns is a relative newcomer. But having said that, the ‘Buckeye’ is surely quite capable of disrupting all the equations against the Floridian. But what are those equations? Let’s take a look at all the stats before predicting this mega-contest.

Sloane Stephens vs Peyton Stearns: Preview

Sloane Stephens is a former US Open champion who also reached the French Open finals in 2018. But the former world number 3 is currently placed at the 39th spot in women’s singles ranking. She’d love to bring back her glorious days yet again. But will it start from Rouen itself? Well if we look at her current form, Stephens recently took part in the green clay-court event in Charleston. She looked in good touch in that tournament but had to face defeat at the hands of eventual champion, Danielle Collins by 2-6,2-6 in the R16.

In that match, her first serve percentage was a staggering 80%. Her win percentage on her first serve was 59%, while it was 50% on her second serve. But the most concerning stat from that match was she could only manage to hit 1 ace throughout that match. Now, if we shift our focus to her stats for this year, Sloane Stephens has managed to hit 11 aces so far this season and has committed 30 double faults. She won 69.4% of her service games in 2024 so far. Her first serve win percentage for this season is 60.4% while she has won 34.5% of her return games.

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Now, let’s look at her opponent, who’s almost 9 years younger than her. Peyton Stearns is a 3-time All-American while playing for the University of Texas. She made her debut on the professional tour in 2022 and currently has a win-loss record of 137-91. She played her last match on the hard court surfaces of the Miami Open where Victoria Azarenka defeated her in a three-set-thriller in the R64.

If we look at her stats from that match, she hit 6 aces compared to 3 of the former world number 1. Stearns committed only 3 double faults throughout the match and her first serve percentage was 77%. Her win percentage on her first serve was 53%. While it dropped to 52% when it came to her win percentage on the second serve. If we take a look at her record for this year, Stearns has managed to hit 37 aces so far and committed 51 double faults. She has won 60.1% of her service games and her first-serve win percentage for 2024 is 59.7%. Peyton Stearns has won 34.8% of her return games so far this year. Can she ace her aces against Sloane Stephens this time around?

Stephens vs Stearns: Head-to-Head

Both the tennis stars have met each other only once at the QF of the Morocco Open in 2023 where Stephens defeated Stearns by 6(4)-7,6-3,7-6 to move into the next round in Rabat. In that QF match, Stephens surprisingly led the number of aces compared to Stears. Sloane Stephens hit 2 aces compared to Peyton Stearns only 1 throughout the match. But when it came to the double faults, Stephens committed 5, while Stearns committed only 3 double faults in that match.

The 31-year-old tennis star had won 66% of her first serve in that match compared to 51% of the 22-year-old tennis players. But when it came to the win percentage on the second serve, Stephens could only manage to win 35%. While Stearns had a staggering 100% record on that. So, this is going to be a closely-knit contest. But there’s going to be only a single winner in the contest. Who’ll it be? 

Prediction: Stephens to win this All-American contest against Stearns

Sloane Stephens currently has a win-loss record of 10-9 this season. While Peyton Stearns has a win-loss record of 3-8 in 2024. Stephens has the experience of going deep into a clay court event, and that too on a mega stage like a Grand Slam. Stearns has the potential to be a mighty challenger. But does she have the experience? You know the answer right?

Stephens has won 2 of her 3 games so far on the clay court this year. For Peyton Stearns, this will be the first time she’ll be stepping on the dirt. Sloane Stephens prefers to play on the clay courts, while Peyton Stearns prefers the hard hours. So, looking at all their record and statistics Stephens looks to be having the edge in the contest against Stearns. But Peyton Stearns surely has the potential to disrupt all the equations, as we discussed earlier.

It will be Sloane Stephens’ calm and composure vs Peyton Stearns’ aggressive gameplay. So, get ready for this mega battle in Rouen with a bucket full of popcorn.