Sloane Stephens: ‘It takes a while to find your groove again … and get back to where I wanted to be’

After missing last year’s US Open – and much of 2025 – due to injury, Sloane Stephens has found her tennis footing again.

Earlier this month, she defeated then-No. 24 Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. It was a big win for Stephens, who played only five matches last year due to a stress fracture in her right foot.

She will compete against Denmark’s Clara Tauson on Monday in the first round of the 2026 US Open. 

“It takes a while to find your groove again and find the tennis you want to play and get back to where I wanted to be,” Stephens said. “And to finally be playing some really good tennis is always a good thing. But also, to be doing it in the U.S., in front of home crowds – it’s incredibly special.”

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk ultimately defeated Stephens 7-5, 7-5 in the third round of the Cincinnati Open. Before their match, however, she said Stephens and other American players are difficult to beat in their home country.

“It’s never easy to play Americans in the U.S,” Kostyuk said. “I think they always bring their best tennis here.” 

Stephens is unseeded in this year’s US Open, as she was in 2017 when she won the women’s title. Back then, she defeated Anastasija Sevastova in the quarterfinals, Venus Williams in the semifinals and Madison Keys in the final.

Stephens looks forward to recapturing some of that magic.

“It’s really fulfilling and exciting to be able to go back to a place where I’ve played some of my best tennis,” she said. “As an American playing the US Open swing [matches in the United States leading up to the Open], when you’re having good results, there’s … no better feeling, [there are] no better crowds to play in front of.”

Stephens’ preparation for this year’s event is a bit different than it was a decade ago – or even in 2018, when she reached her highest ranking of No. 3 in the world.

“I think it’s more of just — I’m a lot older than I was then,” she said with a chuckle. “I take care of myself differently, I practice differently. Those things are a little bit different. But I think for the most part, the routines are the same. The energy, the effort are pretty much the same.”

A significant change since Stephens’ last US Open win is that Black women have become regulars on professional courts. She said that’s the kind of progress her nonprofit Sloane Stephens Foundation wants to help create.

“For American tennis in general, it’s amazing, but from a global perspective – because tennis is such a global sport – to see, Black and brown girls play tennis and not only play tennis, but win. … I think it’s just incredibly important because that gives more kids that look like us something to look for in tennis,” she said.

On Sunday, she received the United States Tennis Association Foundation’s Serving Up Dreams Award for her philanthropic work. The award recognizes people who advance the foundation’s mission of using tennis, education and mentorship to help young people from under-resourced communities.

The USTAF said the Sloane Stephens Foundation served 7,500 young people in 2025 through 1,500 hours of tennis, education and life skills programming.

“Playing tennis is my job, but my passion outside of that is helping people,” Stephens said. “I’ve learned that as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve been able to lean more into it.” 

Recent winners of the award include retired tennis stars Chris Evert, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. At age 33, Stephens is the first active player to receive the honor since it was first presented in 2015, the USTAF said.

“Sloane shows up,” USTAF CEO Ginny Ehrlich said. “When Sloane isn’t on the road competing, she is at the sites working with the young people, working with her mother, who runs the Sloane Stephens Foundation day to day, really showing up and being there.”

Stephens was 20 years old when she established her foundation in 2013. It now has locations in Compton and Fresno, California, and Miami Gardens, Florida, and it is part of the USTAF’s national network of organizations.

She received the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award at the 2025 ESPYS, and TIME Magazine named her to its TIME100 list of the most influential people in philanthropy in May.

“She started very early on in life and her playing career working to ensure that other young people in communities have access to what has given her the life she has,” Ehrlich said. 

Stephens might see a familiar face at the Open. Venus Williams, at age 46, lost her first-round singles match early Monday but will compete in doubles later this week with her sister Serena.

Stephens said Venus Williams inspired her to help share the game with young Black kids and, after all these years, continues to inspire her on the court.

“I don’t know how she’s still out there, but I think for her, when you watch her play, you go to tournaments, she’s still playing in front of packed crowds,” Stephens said. “People want to see her play. People want to go. They want their kids to see her play.”

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