Sloane Stephens Will Fall Against Maria Sharapova in the French Open

Sloane Stephens is a future superstar, but she isn’t ready to soar yet.

She’ll face off against WTA world No. 2 Maria Sharapova in the fourth round of the 2013 French Open, after eliminating Marina Erakovic of New Zealand by the score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 on Saturday.

Stephens, ranked 17th in the world, is talented enough to defeat Sharapova. She beat world No. 1 Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals in January. However, the 20-year-old American’s inconsistency will lead to her elimination against the established Sharapova.

Consistency will come as Stephens adds experience. Her lack of both plagued her this season.

Following her victory over Williams in Melbourne Park, Stephens lost four of her next five matches. As soon as she strung together her first two-match winning streak in the Sony Open Tennis since the drought began, she lost four more in a row. And just as she broke out of that slump in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Sharapova put another dash in Stephens’ loss column by the score of 6-2, 6-1 in the round of 16.

Sharapova is the reigning French Open champion. She performed well on clay this season, winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and losing to Williams in the Mutua Madrid Open final.

Stephens may favor clay, but even she knows victory at Roland Garros is unlikely.

“This is my favorite tournament so I would really, really, really love to win this tournament,” said Stephens, according to ESPN. "But that's a long shot."

Stephens’ time will come. She impressed in France, winning three straight matches for the first time since her Melbourne heroics. The bracket just presented her with one of the worst possible matchups.

Against Sharapova, who hasn’t lost a set in the French Open yet, Stephens' time won’t come now.

David Daniels is a breaking news writer at Bleacher Report and a news editor at Wade-O Radio.

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