Sloane Stephens
Laura Klonowski | 20/07/2026
Few players get the opportunity to experience the highs and evolution that Sloane Stephens has. From winning the 2017 US Open, reaching No. 3 ranking, overcoming injuries and redefining what success is on her own terms, Sloane's career is marked by resilience, perspective and purpose. Away from the court, Sloane is just as passionate about giving back through The Sloane Stephens Foundation, championing education and advocating for the next generation of athletes. The game may have changed since her debut 15 years ago, but her outlook on balance, education, mental wellbeing and representation remains at the heart of everything Stephens does.
“When I first came on tour, it was different. Venus and Serena [Williams] were still winning slams, and they were dominating the game. There were still players like Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters, and people that I really looked up to and loved watching play, and as I’ve gotten older, there’s a completely new set of girls. Coco Gauff and the younger girls, like Marta Kostyuk. It’s so interesting to see because the game has developed and changed so much in terms of power and athleticism; even the balls have changed. It’s been nice to be a part of it because I feel like I’ve lived through so much tennis in my life, and I’ve been able to see so many great champions, play with great champions, and beat great champions. I’ve been able to experience all of tennis, which has been nice, and just super cool, because a lot of people can’t say they have played against Serena, but also played against Coco.”
The game may have changed, but Sloane’s appetite for success remains, just with different priorities. “I think when you first start playing, everyone’s goal is to win a slam or be number one in the world. I think winning a slam was always the goal, something I always really wanted to do, and obviously being able to do that at the US Open was incredibly special. I think an American winning the US Open is top tier; it's like a Brit winning Wimbledon or an Aussie winning the Australian Open, right? So I think for me it was the pinnacle. My motivation when I was younger was always to keep getting better, improving, and trying to get to my best ranking or my best result. Now it’s not that it isn’t now, but I think as you get older and you do so much in a sport/your job, your goals change. I think my motivation two years ago, before I got injured, was that I’d never won a doubles tournament. I was like, I have to win a doubles tournament, I have to get top 100 in the world in doubles, to say that I did it. I think the motivation changes, because I mean, once you win a certain number of tournaments, once you make enough prize money and once you have done all these amazing things, you are still playing the same exact tournaments every single year, all year long. Your motivation has to be something specific to you and something that means something to you personally.
I think for myself, just being able to find things that excite me, whether that’s going to new tournaments, playing somewhere I’ve never played before, or playing two slams this year, which I haven’t done in my entire career, I think, I want to prove to myself that I can still compete at the highest level, and that I still have the competitiveness and the drive to be out there. I think that’s what it means to me. My motivation is so different; my life has changed; I just have a totally different viewpoint on it, and what’s important to me, and what makes me happy and excited to get out of bed in the morning.”
After 15 years on court, Sloane ensures that training remains fresh, exciting and motivating, all whilst understanding the importance of balance, rest and reset. Every day looks a little different, prioritising things that mean the most in her life between her family, practice and everything in between. The days can be early and long, but they are nothing but magical when Sloane gets to do what she loves most, playing tennis and paving the way for the next generation. As Sloane takes me through an average day from Pilates first thing at 6:15am, practice from 8:00 to 10:30am and her foundations tennis camp from midday, she explains how she’s come to structure her day around her foundation, especially their Summer camp. “I like being there and being with the kids, and helping my mum, because my mum’s the executive director of the foundation, so she’s doing most of the work. I’m just here being her emotional support, and then emotional support for the kids, so that’s kind of how my days are now in the summer before I start playing again, and then once I’m on the road, then it's strictly workout, tennis, massage, eat, hotel”.
Sloane also keeps things simple when away from tennis and tries to ensure she has a healthy work-life balance; “I think everyone handles it differently and has a different version of how they balance it all out, but I think it’s just a matter of finding what works best for you. I don’t have a car, so I drive with my mom to work every day; we like to carpool, which works for us. But I’m sure anyone else would be like, I would never do that. It’s just about finding the right balance in your life. I think when you’re juggling a lot of different things, that’s the most important, because at the end of the day, you feel good about it, and you feel like, okay, I didn’t do everything, but the majority of the day was pretty solid.
Things changed almost 10 years ago for Sloane as she took the title win for the 2017 US Open. The moment shaped Sloane, not just in the obvious sense of worldwide recognition but also in the way in which she viewed the sport and the additional obligations that came in tow.
“I was injured the whole year, so I went from being in school finishing my degree, and being totally not focused on tennis, to taking a much-needed life break from tennis, which I think was really important for me. I think once I played five tournaments and won the US Open, which was absolutely shocking, I thought I had work to do now. It’s not only about physically playing tennis, but it’s also all of the other things, sponsors and obligations- and I think that’s really what was most shocking to me. I went through a little period where I was trying to figure myself and my life out, like what do I do now and my values solely based on my results. I went through a personality reset, of finding who I was and figuring that out, and then once I reset, I was good, but it took me a few months to be like, okay, wait, this is my life, and this is what it’s gonna be now. I then had to find the balance. Whereas the months that I didn’t play tennis, when I was out for 11 months, I was a full-time student getting my degree, and I was living a completely different life. I think you find balance, but learning how to do it when you have a very calm, peaceful life, and then learning how to do it when you have a very hectic, extreme travel schedule and all of those things in between is also very different. My life changed for the better, and it’s great. I’ve been able to do all these incredible things, and tennis has been my vehicle to do so many things, which I’m so grateful for, but it definitely was overwhelming and over-stimulating, and I had to manage and figure out my new normal”
Education is incredibly important to Sloane as she continues to further her studies and ensures she never stops learning. “It’s a big part of my life. My parents are very firm believers in education and higher education, and I’m currently getting my doctorate. I’m on my third degree now. I think this is definitely it, but I always think about how I have the most balance, the most drive and motivation when I’m in school. I was homeschooled in high school, so for me, that part of my life and my routine, I think, is so embedded in me. My mom’s an educator; she’s a psychologist. I am very used to having a very strict routine and schedule, and education was always a part of that for me, and so when I decided to get my doctorate, I thought, you know what, this will be good for my life, because I’ll be very anchored and balanced. Learning new things makes me feel good, but also shows our kids at the foundation that school is cool and that it’s good for you. For me, it’s completely helped structure my life, and my entire being”.
As a strong advocate for mental health and the importance of how it goes hand-in-hand with her physical recovery, Sloane understands the importance of ensuring she is 100% fit in all aspects of her career and life:
“It was important a long time ago to me, but I think now, especially as Covid really brought it to the forefront, especially in sports, people are recognising the smallest things that they really weren’t tuned into, and I think it’s impacted our generation in a big way. I think it’s because people didn’t know how to be by themselves; they didn’t know how to be isolated. From professional athletes to people who work nine-to-fives, everyone was lost in their own sense of the way. Of course, I work at the foundation, so it’s very different for me, but again, you can’t pour from an empty cup. If you haven’t taken care of yourself, how can you take care of someone else? I think that’s been a big part of my tennis life, taking care of myself so I can perform my best, have the best output and have more energy. Whatever it is, I think people have just slowly learned that because there wasn’t really an emphasis on mental health. I think it’s really impacted sports in a super positive way, because people who normally wouldn’t reach out for help have really leaned into it, and I think that’s been a super helpful part of building sports, and also building character for young kids who are coming up, because we’ll have a generation of people, kids and young professionals who are not afraid to talk about their feelings, or feel ashamed to go to therapy or ask for help. I think that’s like the coolest part; it’s okay to have these conversations, and I think that’s the best part”
For Sloane, resilience is the backbone of both her sporting career and personal life, whether it be mental health, proving people wrong or coming back from a physical injury, it’s her tenacity that has allowed her to bounce back;
“Resilience is not all the things that happen to you, but how you handle all of them. I think everyone can choose to handle them however they want, right? You have your own opportunity to write your story, but I do think that resilience is very much like when they say you can’t do it and you do it anyway. When I decided to play the qualifiers in Australia, people were like, Why would you do that? And I was like, well, what else? What’s the other option? I wanted to do what they said I couldn’t do. It was about pushing past the fear of what people think of you, how they feel about you and what story they’re going to write about you. I think it’s more about doing it anyway, even when you’re scared. Resilience is doing it even when it doesn’t feel good or look good to others; you keep going anyway, and I think that’s the best part about being an athlete: you learn that at a young age, right? You learn to keep going even when it’s ugly, it’s not going your way and when you’re losing. Whatever’s in your heart that tells you to keep going, that to me is what resilience is”
Sloane is proud to be a part of the wider representation of African American women in tennis and hopes that role models that young girls can relate to will continue to inspire more young women to pick up a racket;
“I think it’s interesting because there are not that many African American women. Playing the sport of tennis and being one of the few who have been able to make an impact in my sport has been incredibly special, but I think more kids now play tennis because of Venus, Serena, Coco, and Taylor Townsend. I think that’s the coolest part of representation, where you can relate to someone. But I think when you see all the young little black girls that are playing tennis now, they have strong role models to look up to and faces to see on TV that look like them, and I think that’s incredibly special and important, because tennis is a hard sport to get into. It’s incredibly expensive, and if your parents are making the sacrifice for you to be able to play tennis because they saw Vicky and Coco playing, you can relate to that, and you can pull from that story. I think that that’s incredibly special, and because there are more younger girls playing the sport now, tennis core has picked up dramatically. I think that it’s important that young girls are able to see people who look like them, and I think the role models that we have now, how they have represented themselves on and off the court, I think I’m incredibly proud of Coco and Vicky and Taylor, and everyone. I think it’s a special time in tennis because, again, we kind of have the changing of the guard, with the original guards coming back, like Serena, who is playing again. I think it’s another testament to resilience when your heart’s calling you somewhere, and you feel the need to go and do it. I think that’s an incredibly powerful story to tell across the board, no matter what you look like”
But the real note for Sloane is the enjoyment and passion for a sport: “I would say have fun, live your life and play your career how you want to play it. I think a lot of the time we’re playing for other people, we’re playing for people writing articles about us, and people talking about us. I think we sometimes forget to play for ourselves and why we’re playing. If you can hold on to that feeling in your core, of why you get up every day, why you’re out there, and why you continue to go out there on your own terms- I think that’s the most important thing because you’ll have a longer career, a more fruitful and more fun career. Be your own voice.”
Words Laura Klonowski
Creative Baolong Song @baolong_song
Photographer Baolong Song @baolong_song
Styling Sébastien Hohl @ sebastienhohl_
Mua Stephanie Nimoh @so.nimoh
Hair Styling Schacle Powell @schacle
HATC Alice s Gee @alicesgee
Dress, Revolve. Bangles and rings, Alexis Bittar. Pump, Black Vintage.
Full look, Magda Butrym.
Jacket, Bent Kahina Jacket. Earrings, Alexis Bittar.
Dress David Koma, Shoes, Isabel Marant. Necklace & Earrings, Alexis Bittar.
Dress, Blumarine. Earrings, Alexis Bittar.