Back on the big stage: Sloane Stephens survives qualifying to reach Australian Open main draw

Sloane Stephens secured her return to the Australian Open main draw after defeating the second seed of qualifying, Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, 6-1, 7-5. The former US Open champion ran into trouble in the second set after building a comfortable lead, but she managed to close out the match in straight sets and will now compete in the Australian Open main draw for the 14th time in her career.

The former world No. 3 took a break from competition in 2025 after a string of poor results caused her ranking to plummet. Stephens currently sits outside the Top 1000, and in fact had not recorded a win at WTA level since Wimbledon 2024. She arrived in Melbourne on a 13-match losing streak.

For Stephens—excluding injury-related absences—this marks the end of a remarkable streak of 50 consecutive Grand Slam main draws played between 2011 and 2025. Her last appearance in Grand Slam qualifying came at Wimbledon 2011, where she was eliminated in the second round. Since then, she had qualified directly for every major main draw until this year.

Her best Grand Slam result remains her title at the 2017 US Open. She was also runner-up at Roland Garros in 2018, reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2013, and made four additional quarterfinal appearances at majors—the most recent coming at Roland Garros 2022, where she fell to eventual runner-up Coco Gauff.

The task was far from easy for the American. Without a match win since June 2024, Stephens needed three consecutive victories to reach the Australian Open main draw. She opened qualifying against 21-year-old Barbora Palicova (world No. 230), earning a 6-1, 7-5 win after recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the second set.

In the second round, Stephens faced home favourite Olivia Gadecki (world No. 171), the reigning Australian Open mixed doubles champion alongside John Peers. Gadecki had already appeared in three consecutive Australian Open main draws, with her best result coming in the second round in 2023, and led the head-to-head 2–1—all meetings having taken place in 2024.

Gadecki controlled the opening set, winning it 6-3, but Stephens found her rhythm from the second set onwards, improving her serving consistency and saving several break points along the way. Stephens returned the scoreline with a 6-3 second set before mounting a comeback in the decider, recovering from an early break and winning six of the final seven games to claim a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory in 2 hours and 13 minutes.

The decisive match against Bronzetti was played on Thursday, January 15. Stephens faced the second seed of qualifying, Bronzetti (world No. 106, former No. 46), an experienced player with one WTA title and three additional finals to her name.

Stephens’ motivation was evident from the outset, as she secured an early break and raced to a 3-0 lead. Although Bronzetti managed to hold her next service game, she could not keep pace with the American. Stephens stepped on the gas, winning three consecutive games to take the opening set 6-1.

The second set initially followed a similar pattern. Stephens earned the first break and later extended her advantage to a double break, moving ahead 5-2 and serving for the match. Bronzetti responded by breaking back, then saved a match point on her serve, and went on to break again to level the score at 5-5.

Despite the momentum shift, Stephens refused to fold. She broke Bronzetti in a tense service game and then served out the match to seal a 6-1, 7-5 victory, completing her comeback to the Australian Open main draw.