By Bob Phillips
Photo by Bill Harper
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| Sloane Stephens, a Connecticut Open veteran who was forced to withdraw from this year's tournament because of minor wrist injury, recovered in fine fashion to win the U.S. Open women's singles title. |
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY–Last
year, after competing for the United States at the Summer
Olympics in Rio de
Janeiro, Sloane Stephens, one of America’s brightest young tennis stars,
suffered an enormous setback. While playing at the U.S. Open, Stephens, who had
defeated Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinals was forced
to withdraw after suffering a stress fracture in her right foot—an injury that
would sideline her for the rest of the year and saw her world ranking slide to
No. 36.
But oh, what a difference a year makes, right?
Stephens had surgery on her foot in January, and wore a boot
for a few months. Then, in May, just before starting her comeback, she took
time off from intense training under the watchful eye of coach Nick Saviano to
give a
free clinic to urban school kids in New Haven.
But her inactivity did not come without cost. Stephens fell
out of the WTA Top 100 in world rankings, but started to recover during the
summer. After losing in the first round at Wimbledon to fellow American Alison Riske,
and then again losing in the first round at the Citi Open, Stephens started her
dramatic rise back to the top of the tennis world in Toronto, where she made it
to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup before falling to four-time Connecticut
Open champ Caroline Wozniacki. Then it was on to Cincinnati where she again
reached the semis before falling to another former CT Open champion, Petra
Kvitova.
And then, this afternoon, Sloane Stephens’ comeback was
complete when she drilled fellow American and good friend Madison Keys, 6-3,
6-0, to win the U.S. Open women’s singles championship at Arthur Ashe Stadium
in Queens.
Stephens, who earned a wild card entry into the Connecticut
Open in July only to be forced to withdraw after injuring her wrist, started making
noise early in the tournament. She entered the Open with a protected ranking—a
status that injured players apply for when they aren’t able to play for at
least six months in order to hold their former ranking in place.
And then she caught fire in Flushing.
The first to fall was 2015 U.S. Open Roberta Vinci who lost
to Stephens in straight sets in the first round. Then came an upset over
Dominika Cibulková of Slovakia, a Connecticut Open
finalist last month. Next came Australian star Ashleigh Barty and Julia Görges,
the tourney’s No. 30 seed. That put her into hre first Grand Slam quarterfinal
since Wimbledon in 2013. She topped No. 16 seed Anastasija Sevastova in three
sets, then defeated Venus Williams in three sets in the semis to advance to her
first-ever Grand Slam final.
So Keys should have known something was up. After her
victory, Stephens became the first American woman to win a U.S. Open title with
a surname other than Williams since another New Haven veteran, Lindsay
Davenport, did it in 1998.
“I don’t think it’s real,” Stephens said after the match. “I
think I’m going to wake up and it will be like, before Wimbledon. It’s been a
long journey; a long road back. I don’t think anyone could have predicted this.
Without question, Stephens put her time off to good use,
preparing herself mentally for the long road to recovery.
“Life is good; so many great things can happen if you
embrace the good times,” she said.
Incredible is the word—especially for a young African
American woman playing for her first Grand Slam title on the biggest stage in
her sport. But in retrospect, maybe it was simpler than you might think.
“I just had to keep my feet moving,” she revealed after
winning her first-ever major. “From the very first match, it was like, keep the
feet moving at all times.”
—with staff reports
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