Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Stephens has won eight WTA Tour-level singles titles, including the 2017 US Open. She was also the runner-up at the 2018 French Open. She has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 63, and has won one WTA Tour doubles title.
Born to athletic parents, Stephens was introduced to tennis in Fresno, California. She became a promising junior player, reaching a junior ranking of world No. 5 and winning three out of four major girls' doubles titles in 2010 partnering Tímea Babos.
At 19 years old, Stephens rose to prominence by reaching the semifinals at the 2013 Australian Open, defeating world No. 3 Serena Williams en route. Although she reached No. 11 towards the end of 2013, she regressed and fell outside the top 25 at the end of 2015. Stephens switched to a new coach, Kamau Murray, under whom she returned to an elite level and won three WTA titles in the first half of 2016. Her successful year was cut short by a foot injury that kept her out for months.
Stephens returned from injury in the middle of 2017 and won the US Open in just her fifth tournament back, being awarded WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her successful season. In 2018, she continued her success by winning her first Premier Mandatory title at the Miami Open, reaching a second major final at the French Open, entering the top 10 for the first time, and finishing runner-up at the WTA Finals.
Stephens was born on March 20, 1993, in Plantation, Florida, to Sybil Smith and John Stephens, both of whom were accomplished athletes. Her mother was the first African-American woman to be named a first-team All-American swimmer in Division I history. She is enshrined in the Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame and recognized as the greatest swimmer in the history of the university. Stephens's father was a Pro Bowl running back for the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Pro Football Hall of Famer Raymond Berry regarded him as the best athlete he had ever seen.
Smith left Stephens's father after his multiple arrests in 1994. Stephens was raised by her mother and her stepfather, Sheldon Farrell, who married Smith in 1997 and worked as a business consultant. Her younger half-brother John Stephens Jr. plays tight end in the NFL. She also has another younger half-brother, Shawn Farrell, who played baseball and football at Notre Dame High School outside of Los Angeles. Stephens did not talk with her biological father until she was 13 years old, when he expressed interest in getting to know her after being diagnosed with degenerative bone disease. Even though they only met a few times in person, the two of them developed a close relationship remotely. Stephens's stepfather died from cancer in 2007, while her biological father died in a car crash in 2009.
Stephens moved to her mother's hometown of Fresno in California at the age of two. She started playing tennis at the age of nine at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, a tennis facility located across the street from her house where her stepfather regularly played and her mother was taking lessons. Former top 100 player Francisco González, 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. Two years after she started playing tennis, Stephens relocated to Boca Raton in Florida. She began training at the Evert Tennis Academy founded by John Evert and also run by his sister, International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert. The following year at age 12, Stephens switched to the Nick Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy, and also began online homeschooling.
After her stepfather's death, Stephens and her family moved back to their hometown of Fresno where her grandparents and other members of her mother's family still lived. From then on, she split time living in both California and Florida.
Stephens began competing in low-level events on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2006 at the age of 13. Her first breakthrough result came at the US Open in 2008, where she reached her first doubles final at a Grand Slam with Mallory Burdette. She then finished the year with a semifinal appearance at the high-level Orange Bowl tournament, a Grade A event.
Stephens began 2009 by winning her first two tournaments of the year, the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships and the Grade A Italian Open. Following these big titles, she only played in the remaining junior Grand Slam events in 2009 and 2010, while also skipping the Australian Open.
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. Mladenovic ended up winning the tournament, and would also defeat Stephens in their next encounter at the Wimbledon quarterfinals. These results brought her to a career-high junior ranking of No. 5 in the world. During the US Open, she left New York after her first match to attend her biological father's funeral in Louisiana. She returned to play and win her next match, but ultimately lost in the third round.
In 2010, Stephens partnered with Tímea Babos to win the doubles title at all three majors in which they participated. They became just the second pair of girls to win three Grand Slam tournament doubles titles in one season after Corina Morariu and Ludmila Varmužová in 1995. Stephens also reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the singles events. Her best singles result that year was a Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open, where she lost to Daria Gavrilova in a third set tiebreak.
2007–11: Tour debut, entering the top 100
Stephens played her first professional events on the ITF Women's Circuit in late 2007. In the spring of 2008, she received a qualifying wildcard into her first WTA Tour event, the Miami Open, where she lost her opening round match. She would lose in qualifying the next two years as well. Stephens also received wildcards into the US Open qualifying rounds for three consecutive years. In her first appearance in 2008, she defeated world No. 109, Melinda Czink, while still only 15 years old, but was unable to advance to the main draw in any of these appearances. During the summer of 2008, Stephens won her first professional title in doubles at a low-level event in Wichita, alongside partner Christina McHale.
In the middle of 2009, Stephens participated in World TeamTennis as a member of the New York Buzz. Although she seldom played on the pro tour that year, Stephens decided to turn pro in October following a strong junior season. In March 2010, Stephens qualified for the Indian Wells Open to make her WTA Tour main-draw debut a week before turning 17. She defeated Lucie Hradecká in her first career main-draw match before losing to the defending champion, 12th-seeded Vera Zvonareva. Her only other WTA Tour win that year came at the Swedish Open in July. After starting the year ranked No. 802, she finished the 2010 season just inside the top 200 at No. 198.
Stephens continued to climb the WTA rankings during the 2011 clay-court season. She won her first professional singles title at the Camparini Gioielli Cup, a $50k event in Italy. She then made it through qualifying at the French Open to make her Grand Slam main-draw debut in singles. Although she lost to Elena Baltacha, she rose to a career best No. 128 in the world. In August, Stephens entered the Southern California Open as a wildcard and defeated No. 20, Julia Görges, en route to her first WTA Tour quarterfinal. Later that month, she was awarded a wildcard into her first US Open main draw. In the opening round, she defeated Réka Luca Jani for her first Grand Slam tournament match win. She then backed up that win by beating 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. With this third-round appearance, Stephens made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings and also became the youngest player in the top 100 at 18 years old.