"To have good results, you have to practice" - Resurgent Stephens feels confident after upset win over Pliskova

Following a loss of form that had many wondering if she would soon hang up her racket, Sloane Stephens is slowly gaining momentum as she stunned former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova in the second round of Roland Garros.

The 2017 US Open champion battled past the ninth seed on Court Philippe-Chatrier, advancing to the third round with a convincing 7-5 6-1 victory. After having struggled over the past year, the American seems to be approaching her game with a different mindset.

"So I think being happy on the court and being able to train and get back to what I was doing before and enable myself to have good results is what I really had to kind of realize,” Stephens said. “In order to have good results, you have to practice. You have to get out there, you have to have the time, you can’t be crying.

"Life happens, you know? And I think that letting life settle and dealing with it and then trying to play tennis is the best way to go.”

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The former World No.3 lost her first four matches of the year, before picking up her first win in late March in Miami. Although she won a handful of matches in Charleston, she had to qualify for Rome, before losing in the first round. Nonetheless, the 28-year old has not let that deter her.

"My happiness isn’t really determined by wins and losses,” reflected Stephens. “It’s more of how I feel when I’m playing, in my competitiveness and me wanting to be out there. And when I’m literally talking to grieving counselors and psychologists and all these people all the time because I’m a mess, that doesn’t really have anything to do with my tennis. It’s more of just that I’ve gone through a lot.

“And to just have the expectation of, `Oh, I’m going to get out there and kill it,’ like, that’s not going to happen, right?”

Stephens will face another Czech in the third round of the French Open; 18th-seeded Karolina Muchova awaits the American on Saturday.

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