Wimbledon: Robson's run ends; Sloane powers into quarters

Sloane Stephens of the US reached her second Grand Slam quarterfinal of the year, beating 19-year-old Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Monday at Wimbledon. The 17th-seeded Stephens is the last American singles player left at the grass-court tournament. She finished her 2-hour, 4-minute victory shortly after defending champion Serena Williams’ 34-match winning streak ended with a three-set loss to Sabine Lisicki. For the first time in 101 years, no men representing the U.S. even made it to Wimbledon’s third round. [caption id=“attachment_919829” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The 17th-seeded Stephens is the last American singles player left at the grass-court tournament. AP[/caption] Stephens, who is 20, eliminated Williams in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in January to reach her first career major semifinal. BRIT ROBSON’S RUN ENDS Laura Robson failed in her quest to become the first British woman to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 1984, falling 7-6 (6), 7-5 in an error-filled match to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Robson, the first British woman to reach the second week at Wimbledon since 1998, was ahead 5-2 in the first-set tiebreaker Monday but lost six of the next seven points. Serving at 5-4, she hit her first try about five feet long, then bounced the second serve into the net. Robson, ranked 38th, finished with 24 unforced errors with only 27 winners, as she had trouble harnessing her forehand. Kanepi, ranked 46th, moves into her fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal. Jo Durie remains the last British woman to make the Wimbledon quarters, 29 years ago. AP