Sloane Stephens: The New Rave in Female Tennis

steemsports (80)in #steemsports • 7 years ago

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Sloane Stephens suffered an 11-month injury lay-off.
Sloane Stephens dropped in the rankings to 957th in the world.
Sloane Stephens was unseeded for the US Open.
Sloane Stephens battled and found herself in the US Open Women’s Final.
Sloane Stephens beat Madison Key in the final of Grand Slam Champion in 61 minutes.
Sloane Stephens is the 5th unseeded woman in the open era to win a Grand Slam title.

Road to the Championship

Final:

Set	Sloane Stephens	vs	Madison Keys
1st	6	-	3
2nd	6	-	0

Semi-final:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	Venus Williams
1st	6	-	1
2nd	0	-	6
3rd	7	-	5

Quarter-final:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	Anastasija Sevastova
1st	6	-	3
2nd	3	-	6
3rd	7	-	6

Fourth round:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	J Görges
1st	6	-	3
2nd	3	-	6
3rd	6	-	1

Third round:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	A Barty
1st	6	-	2
2nd	6	-	4

Second round:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	D Cibulková
1st	6	-	2
2nd	5	-	7
3rd	6	-	3

First round:

Set	Sloane Stephens	Vs	R Vinci
1st	7	-	5
2nd	6	-	1

After returning from a long-term foot injury a little over 2 months ago, 24-year-old Sloane Stephens capped an impressive run in the US Open with a scintillating victory in the final against fellow American friend, Madison Keys.

Stephens said after the victory:

"There are no words to describe how I got here because if you told someone this story they'd be, like, 'that's insane'."

Six weeks prior to the tournament, she was ranked 957th in the world after her long absence from the court for 11-months. Her injury lay-off included 16 weeks on crutches.

After battling to regain fitness and form prior to the US Open, Sloane Stephens managed to climb to 83rd spot on the ranking but was still unseeded for the tournament.

She stated that she was quite nervous before the final game against childhood friend and compatriot, Madison Keys. Both players were debuting in the Grand Slam final for the first time in their careers.

Stephens added:

"I had surgery in January, and if someone had told me then that I would win the US Open, I would have said it was impossible."

"Madison is one of my best friends on tour. I wouldn't have wanted to play anyone else. I told her that I wished it could have been a draw."

Madison Keys, seeded 15th for the tournament, played with a heavily strapped right thigh, suggesting a thigh injury of some sort. She subsequently couldn’t cope with the skill, power, and accuracy of her much fitter opponent, and lost in straight-sets 6 – 3, 6 – 0.

After the game, Madison Keys said:

“Sloane is truly one of my favorite people and to play against her was special. I obviously didn't play my best tennis and Sloane was very supportive.”

"If I'm going to lose to anyone today, I'm glad it's to her."

The victory for Stephens makes her the first American, apart from William’s sisters, to win a Grand Slam singles title since the 2002 Australian Open, when Jennifer Capriati clinched the title.