WASHINGTON — U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens continued her tendency for all-or-nothing showings at tournaments, losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the Citi Open to 91st-ranked Andrea Petkovic on Wednesday.
Stephens was seeded No. 2 at the hard-court event, which she won in 2015 for her first WTA title. It’s a tuneup for the year’s last major, the U.S. Open, where she will begin the defense of her first Grand Slam title later this month.
“Hopefully,” Stephens said, “some things connect in the next couple of weeks.”
Her best results this season were a runner-up finish at the French Open and a title at the Miami Open. But take away those tournaments, and the American is 10-11 in 2018, including first-round exits at Wimbledon last month and the Australian Open in January.
Against Petkovic, Stephens put only 59 percent of her first serves in play and was broken four times.
“I didn’t serve great, but that’s not what lost me the match,” Stephens said. “She just played better than me.”
Stephens’ loss leaves the Citi Open women’s draw without either of its top two seeds; No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki withdrew Tuesday because of a leg injury.
In men’s action, 13th-seeded Frances Tiafoe picked up his first victory at his hometown ATP tournament, beating 120th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-2, 6-4 with the help of 10 aces.
Tiafoe, a 20-year-old who grew up in nearby Hyatsville, Maryland, called his performance “nice, quick, efficient.”
He showed up to his postmatch news conference wearing a red T-shirt with the words, “Rep your city,” after needing just 75 minutes to win in front of a crowd that included his parents, brother and “couple aunts, couple uncles.”
Tiafoe entered the day 0-2 at the Citi Open.
He was scheduled to play doubles later Wednesday alongside another local player, Denis Kudla of Arlington, Virginia, who also won in singles, eliminating No. 12 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-2, 6-3.
Another seeded player lost when No. 14 Jeremy Chardy of France was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Marius Copil of Romania.
No. 15 Mischa Zverev of Germany moved into the third round by defeating Tim Smyczek of the U.S. 6-2, 7-6 (7). Zverev’s next match could be against his younger brother, No. 1 seed and defending champion Alexander. It would be their first main-draw meeting on the ATP tour. Alexander Zverev was scheduled to resume his match against Malek Jaziri later Wednesday; it was suspended because of rain Tuesday night after Zverev took the first set 6-2.
No. 5 seed Nick Kyrgios withdrew because of an injured left hip that he said he hurt “after a sudden movement” during last week’s tournament in Atlanta. Kyrgios said he didn’t want to risk aggravating the injury ahead of bigger tournaments than the Citi Open, such as next week’s Toronto Masters and the U.S. Open.
