Stephens: 'There is no formula' for progress
PARIS, France - Sloane Stephens will leave Paris at the very least a brand new Top 5 player, and at best a double Grand Slam champion - but the American's journey to this elite territory has been a circuitous one.
Sometimes, that's been due to unfortunate circumstance. This time last year, Stephens was still on a 10-month hiatus due to foot surgery that saw her ranking dip to World No.957 last June. In just her fifth tournament back, she won the US Open - and promptly went on an eight-match losing streak. Three tournaments after snapping that in February, Stephens won the Miami Open.
There is no secret to the No.10 seed's ability to switch on her best form, though. "Life came at me fast after the US Open," she explained after her 6-4, 6-4 semifinal win over Madison Keys. Getting out of the ensuing rut was simply a matter of "regrouping and getting myself together - which I did well, and I started playing better and better. Like, I have just slowly kind of gained momentum. There is no formula. There's no right or wrong. It's just each person is individual and does it on their own time."
Having made her Grand Slam breakthrough in stunning fashion as a 19-year-old at the 2013 Australian Open, defeating Serena Williams en route to her maiden semifinal, it was another two years before Stephens won her first WTA title at Washington in 2015; four-and-a-half-years before she would return to the final four at a major; and over five years until she broke the Top 10, after Miami this year.
Not that her rate of progress has fazed her - and indeed, the 25-year-old says that it's her experience that's enabling her move to the next level. "Getting older, more mature, just being out here for long periods of time, just traveling week in and week out, learning myself, learning my routines, learning what works best for me and what doesn't," she explained.
"It's an individual sport, so you have to figure that out to make sure you give yourself the best chance, and I think I do that well some weeks."
Stephens' no-formula analysis also applies to her immaculate 6-0 record in finals, she says. "I have had good opportunities in finals, and I have taken advantage of them," is her simple explanation. "I have played well, played solid. And, I mean, there is no formula. I didn't, like, try to do it. I'm not trying to break a record. It's just how it's happened for me."
However, the US Open champion does admit that she is hard to stop when she gets her teeth into a draw. "I think once I get going in a tournament, I'm pretty consistent, which is good," she laughed. "I just try to keep that going through the finals and just compete to the very last match."
