Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens will play each other in the fourth round of Indian Wells, with Stephens defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova to set up their fourth career meeting.
The two have not played since 2013, when Williams beat Stephens at Brisbane, followed by the younger American's stunning victory in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and Serena’s straight-set win in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
After the 21-year-old Stephens reached the fourth round of the 2014 French Open, she began to slide and was often hurt. This week is the first time that she was won three consecutive matches since Paris, having defeated Chanelle Scheepers, Angelique Kerber, and Kuznetsova. Stephens reached a career-high No. 11 in 2013 but is is currently ranked No. 42.
“I have had some tough matches with Sloane,” Williams said before she knew she’d play Stephens next. “She's had an interesting year, but I have noticed that she's been really playing well. She moves well and she tries to do her best for everything. That would be an interesting, good matchup for me.”
The 33-year-old Williams and Stephens are not close friends, with Sloane having said that Serena became unfriendly following their Australian Open contest, but then backed away from her comments. However, Stephens now says they are civil.
“She's a colleague,” Stephens said. “She's the No. 1 player in the world and I expect her to play really well.
Stephens is looking for a good performance, saying she wants to “Stay focused and fight hard and just get out there and compete.”