Fasten your seatbelts for the all-American clash at the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center! Washington’s Hailey Baptiste takes on the experienced campaigner from Florida, Sloane Stephens in the R32 of the Korea Open. Stephens has already won a title this year in April but apart from that, her season has been pretty much ordinary. Can Baptiste come up with a surprise against the 2017 US Open champion in this intriguing contest?

Sloane Stephens vs Hailey Baptiste: Preview

Sloane Stephens’ best performance in the 2024 season came at the Open de Rouen. She beat Poland’s Magda Linette over there in the final to clinch the 8th title of her career. However, seeing her struggle on the North American hardcourt swing raised the eyebrows of several American fans.

Stephens is entering this tournament on the back of a two-set defeat to Australia’s Olivia Gadecki in the R32 of Abierto de Guadalajara. It’ll be interesting to see if she can make a strong comeback in Seoul.

Her opponent, Hailey Baptiste has mostly competed at the ITF WTA 125 circuits. Baptiste’s most notable performance was reaching the finals of the ITF Mexico 02A. She is also entering this match after facing defeat in her first match at the Abierto de Guadalajara at the hands of Columbian tennis star, Camila Osorio. So, she will be keen to get back to the winning ways. Has she ever faced Stephens in her career before, though?

Stephens vs Baptiste: Head-to-Head

No, both these players haven’t yet played against each other and this is exactly what makes this match more interesting. The fast courts in Seoul will help both of them. However, the question is: who can make full use of the conditions and deliver their A-game on the day.

Prediction: Stephens to win in straight sets

Talking about delivering on the bigger stages, well who knows it better than Sloane Stephens? The 31-year-old has vast experience of playing all over the world. Currently, she’s positioned 65th in the WTA rankings but the biggest concern is her form. She has a win-loss record of 19-20 this year. On the other hand, Hailey Baptiste is currently ranked 105th in the world and has a win-loss record of 3-8 on the main Tour.

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If we take a look at their playing styles, Sloane Stephens is an all-court player who often tends to play behind the baseline. She heavily relies on her incredible athleticism to defend against her opponent’s shots. Stephens has a unique ability to swiftly turn her defense into offense.

Apart from that, Sloane Stephens is also a good server and can inject pace into her shots quite effortlessly. In this match, Stephens will possibly look to bring more variations into her game to outfox the youngster.

For Hailey Baptiste to succeed in this match, she needs to be on her toes right from the start. Converting all the half chances into points in her favor will be the key to success for the 22-year-old. Baptiste has an aggressive style of play and she loves playing close to the net. Apart from that, she’s also a good mover on the court and her footwork is quite exceptional.

Baptiste can hit her backhand shots very precisely and she likes to take the shot on the rise to get on top of the rallies. We expect a similar style of play in this match as well, but will it be enough to outsmart the classy Sloane Stephens? Probably not!