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It’s been nearly 10 years since one of the Williams sisters played another American in a Grand Slam quarterfinal but today 19-year-old Sloane Stephens takes on 15-time Grand Slam champion Serena on Rod Laver Arena.
Join us for all the commentary and live scores this afternoon.
Ranked number 25 in the world, Stephens is currently the youngest woman in the WTA inside the top 40. However, despite her tender age and lack of experience on the professional tour, Stephens has so far proved herself on the world stage.
Stephens made it to the fourth round of the French Open in 2012 and stunned former Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the US Open last year.
2013 has been a terrific year so far for the Los Angeles native, who not only reached the quarter-finals in Brisbane a few weeks ago, only to be knocked out by Serena, but also made it to the semi-finals in Hobart before making the journey to Melbourne Park.
Today’s match will be the first quarterfinal appearance by Stephens and she has vocally expressed how excited she is to play against her idol.
Her run to the quarterfinal stage has been relatively easy, having not faced another seeded player and only losing one set, against Bojana Jovanovski in the last round, along the way.
However today’s match is a whole other story.
The match-up between these two will be only the second of their careers, with 31-year-old Williams taking the honours after her straight sets win in Brisbane.
It’s hard to go past Williams on any given day but against an opponent who is only 19-years-old and never played in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, it’s expected the world number three will steam roll it home.
Her incredible power will prove too much for Stephens and her experience and utter dominance of the game will ensure her 20-match winning streak will continue that little bit longer.
Williams in straight sets.
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