Madrid Open 2023: Stephens vs. Cristian Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Madrid Open first-round match featuring Sloane Stephens vs. Jaqueline Cristian on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

Sloane Stephens vs. Jaqueline Cristian Preview

2019 Madrid Open semifinalist Sloane Stephens will look to find her footing on clay when she is locked in a battle against Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian. Who will prevail?

Sloane Stephens kicked off her clay swing on home soil at the Charleston Open where she defeated Louisa Chirico in the first round before bowing out at the hands of Victoria Azarenka. Stephens is 5-8 coming to the Madrid Open where she is a former semifinalist. Let’s see if she bounces back and records her second win on clay when she takes on Jaqueline Cristian.

Jaqueline Cristian has featured heavily on the ITF circuit this year largely because her ranking is still outside the top 100. Cristian is working her way back into the top 100 tirelessly. She’s captured two titles at that level including the Palmanova W25 in Spain last month which was on clay. The Romanian lost a semifinal at her most recent tournament in the Koper ITF in Slovenia at the weekend. Let’s see if she will maintain that momentum at the Madrid Open.

Sloane Stephens vs. Jaqueline Cristian Prediction and Pick

Sloane Stephens and Jaqueline Cristian have not played each other on the WTA Tour with this first-round match at the Madrid Open being their first meeting. Cristian is no slouch on this surface and has played sufficient clay-court tennis to get into a rhythm this week. But I can’t see Stephens struggling too much in muscling past the Romanian with the ball accelerating at a much faster rate here, giving Stephens’ ground strokes enough bite to progress.