He was also the one who advised her to pursue a career in tennis before she proceeded to Boca Raton to train. [275], Her clothing sponsor from 2010 was Under Armour and in early 2018 she signed with Nike. [65][241] All of their matches since have been contested at high-level Premier tournaments or Grand Slam tournaments. [63][64] This was the first top-ten victory of Stephens's career and made her much more prominent. [58] She also reached the third round at the Premier 5 Cincinnati Open, where she lost a tight match to world No. Stephens also earned acareer-high rank of No. Chicago defeated the Orlando Storm to earn a spot in the final, but ultimately fell to the New York Empire in a supertiebreaker. After the US Open, Stephens competed at the Italian Open. My whole life is about tennis. She lost to the eventual champion Marion Bartoli.
Sloane Stephens' Coach on How They Kept Up Her Training Regimen - Peoplemag Sloane Stephens reunites with coach Kamau Murray ahead of U.S. Open [133] With this performance, she also cracked the top 10 for the first time. [67][76] She finished the year at world No. [176], Stephens began her clay-court season at the Charleston Open. 3 Angelique Kerber. [136][137] Despite going up a set and a break, Stephens lost the final to world No. [17], Stephens began competing in low-level events on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2006 at the age of 13. Sloane Stephens has reconnected with coach Kamau Murray days ahead of this year's U.S. Open, which Stephens won in 2017 while working with Murray. 2 seed in the WTT Playoffs. [187] At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, she lost in the first round to qualifier Caroline Garcia. [120] Stephens closed out the tournament by defeating Keys in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam tournament title. Even though they only met a few times in person, the two of them developed a close relationship remotely. After departing from Saviano for the first time in 2009, Sloane began working with an ex-Bahamas tennis player who turned coach, Roger Smith.
IBM introduces new tennis tool to make the next Sloane Stephens at the [72] The highlight of her clay-court season in the lead up to the French Open was the Fed Cup semifinals on the road against France, where she won both of her singles rubbers over Pauline Parmentier and Kristina Mladenovic to lead the United States to a 32 victory. Her successful year was cut short by a foot injury that kept her out for months. She reached the French Open quarterfinals and third round of Wimbledon this year but struggledduring the hard court tournaments in the run up to the U.S. Open next week. Former top 100 player Francisco Gonzlez, the head of tennis at the club, recognized Stephens had impressive ability given her limited experience and recommended her to pursue more rigorous training opportunities. She upset eighth seed, world No. 92 to reach the fourth round. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in total. 128 in the world. [241] Her only victory against Serena came at the 2013 Australian Open when she was still relatively unknown as a 19-year-old. Othmane Garma, right, and Coach Kamau Murray, have helped Sloane Stephens regain her form after a number of injuries. [99][100] Stephens would win two more WTA titles during the season. The American player, who competed in both the U.S. Open and the. She then backed up that win by beating 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. A look at Sloane Stephens' Fresno ties", "WTA star Sloane Stephens expands youth programs in Fresno", "Tennis Pro Sloane Stephens Has Valley Roots", "Is Sloane Stephens the Future of American Tennis? [263] In June 2012, Stephens switched coaches to David Nainkin in order to try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Her stepfather was a competitive recreational tennis player and was her primary inspiration for beginning to play the sport. [74] Two weeks later, Stephens entered the US Open as the 15th seed, where she faced Williams again in the fourth round. 25, Jamie Hampton. Stephens reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, securing her first match wins at the tournament since 2014. 2 Halep again in Cincinnati. Seeded fourth, she overcame a bee sting to beat Magdalena Frch in the first round. Kamau Murray. [87] Her first two successful tournaments of the year came at the Premier Mandatory events in March. Stephens was down a set and a break early in the second set, but came from behind to pull off a huge upset. She favors her forehand, and will run around her backhand at times to play her stronger groundstroke. On our site youll find a variety of options to continue watching and talking about famous sportsmens,tennis tournaments and tennis gear. The foundation is run by Stephens, her mother, and her uncle Ronald Smith. Their relationship ended in 2012; David Nainkin. Nonetheless, she finished the year as the youngest player in the top 50 at No. Sloane Stephens' Coach on 'Creative' Ways They Kept Up Her Training Regimen amid Pandemic Still, she says, "The pandemic has taught me to focus more on what I can control and less on what I cannot. Stephens also is a proficient server: she can hit first serves as fast as 110115 miles per hour and is capable of employing both first and second serves with a flat, sliced, or kick serve approach. [104], In contrast to previous years where Stephens struggled at smaller tournaments while still doing well at bigger tournaments, she struggled at the Grand Slam tournaments and high-level Premier events in 2016. Required fields are marked *. 4 Simona Halep in the fourth round. [286], Stephens credits her mother for supporting her career as a tennis player since she was very young. [269] In the 2015 offseason, she replaced him with Kamau Murray. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 2 Angelique Kerber, who needed to retire in the second set due to an illness. 1, Victoria Azarenka, she rose to a career-high ranking of No. This loss snapped her streak of reaching the second week of every major since a third-round loss at the 2012 US Open.
Sloane Stephens's Coach Recommits to Craft After Health Scare Stephens ended the year with a 411 record and ranked 39. [172] Seeded ninth at the first edition of the Phillip Island Trophy, she suffered a first round loss at the hands of Varvara Gracheva. [125][126], After the US Open, Stephens did not win another match the rest of the season.
ATX Open: Sloane Stephens exits in QF; Danielle Collins & Marta Kostyuk To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended. Seeded 26th, she won her opening two matches in straight sets before losing in the third round to third seed and six-time champion Serena Williams. [45], In the off-season, Stephens hired Kamau Murray to be her new coach. She spent four years with Saviano before moving on and later reconciled with him in 2015.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'thetennistime_com-box-4','ezslot_5',153,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thetennistime_com-box-4-0'); Saviano was a former professional tennis player and popular coach known for his long-term relationship with the former worlds number 5, Eugenie Bouchard. [181] Ranked 59 at the French Open, she stunned ninth seed and world No. [19] She then finished the year with a semifinal appearance at the high-level Orange Bowl tournament, a Grade A event. Her first upset of the tournament came in the second round over No. Stephens was born on March 20, 1993 in Plantation, Florida to Sybil Smith and John Stephens, both of whom were accomplished athletes. She showed an improvement in form at the US Open. [18], At the French Open, Stephens extended her main-draw win streak to 16 matches in a row to start the season, despite needing to qualify for the main draw, before losing to French junior Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals. This score is average compared to other women's tennis players, and rates similarly to fellow Grand Slam tournament winners Justine Henin and Victoria Azarenka. [16] From then on, she split time living in both California and Florida. [85][86] She entered the Australian Open unseeded and faced a difficult draw against Victoria Azarenka in the first round. She has no Doubles titles and has been ranked as high as 94 under the category. She then reached her first WTA semifinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. 38.
New fiance Altidore, new coach Groeneveld for Sloane Stephens Your email address will not be published. She won her first professional singles title at the Camparini Gioielli Cup, a $50K event in Italy. Your email address will not be published. [143][144] She then closed out the season by participating in her first WTA Finals in Singapore. "[243], Stephens has a 27 record against Halep.
Kamau Murray - Wikipedia Coach. [101] Her third and last title of the year came on clay at the higher-level Charleston Open, a low-level Premier event. Tennis Interviews Sloane Stephens against Serena Williams? Now, Stephens has Nadal's former coach in her corner. In her first appearance in 2008, she defeated world No. 33 Julia Grges to advance to her first US Open quarterfinal and her first major quarterfinal since Wimbledon in 2013. Emma Hruby . As Sloane Stephens plays in the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the year, she has regrets about having competed at the first one. . With Smith as her coach, she became a top-ranked junior with three Grand Slam tournament doubles titles and also cracked the top 100 of the WTA rankings. [116] In the fourth round, she defeated No. [149] She finished the season ranked No. He recruited me as a junior for Adidas. Defending champion Naomi Osaka enters as the No. [65] Although Stephens would lose her next match to world No. [245] Stephens then won their next two meetings in early 2013, including a first round match at the Australian Open as part of her breakthrough semifinal run at the event. [79], Stephens returned to the United States Fed Cup team in April for their home playoff tie against France. 37 in the world. Her mother was a swimmer in Division I history. [37][38][39] During the summer of 2008, Stephens won her first professional title in doubles at a low-level $10K event in Wichita alongside partner Christina McHale. She lost in the first round to qualifier Liudmila Samsonova in three sets. [182] She lost in her fourth-round match to eventual champion Barbora Krejkov. [91] Having struggled at the last three Grand Slam events, Stephens managed to upset world No. [117] She then defeated No. She reached the fourth round at Indian Wells, where she lost a three-set match to world No.
Nadal's former coach Roig to work with American Stephens [142], For the second straight year, Stephens began the Asian hardcourt season with multiple losses. 5 Jeena Ostapenko in the final. doTerra is a company that primarily sells essential oils, while Precision Nutrition provides coaching for diet and exercise. Her father, John Stephens, was a former Pro Bowl player who played for a team in the National Football League, while her mother, Sybil Smith, was an accomplished swimmer who made history during college.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[468,60],'thetennistime_com-box-3','ezslot_9',160,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-thetennistime_com-box-3-0'); Sloane started playing tennis at the age of 9 alongside her mother and stepfather at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, located just some distance from her home. She achieved this ranking on the 16th of July, 2018. [83] After playing in one more tournament in September, she ended her season early to recover from a wrist injury. "[260][261][262], When Stephens was just starting to play tennis at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, one of her first instructors was Francisco Gonzlez, a retired professional tennis player once ranked in the top 50.