Sloane Stephens has now entered her 18th year on the tour, and if we take a look back, it’s fair to say that her career has been inconsistent to date. The lows have been pretty low, but the highs have been incredibly high with her winning the Grand Slam title at the 2017 US Open and becoming the world number 3, a year later. Although Stephens reached the final at the 2018 French Open as well, she has failed to find success on the biggest stage for a long time now, and this has now added an extra burden to her shoulders. How does the 32-year-old handle the pressure?
“There’s one quote that has really stuck with me: ‘Pressure is a privilege.‘ Billie Jean King once told me that, and I try to remember her words in important situations,” Stephens once said in an old interview. With time, the 32-year-old has now learned to stay grounded and focus on her strengths in high-pressure situations, but how challenging has it been for her until now?
The 2025 season has been quite challenging for Stephens. She has already played four tournaments, but is yet to win a match.. Currently, her win-loss record is 0-4! Following her early exit from the 2025 AO, she shared a heartfelt note on her social media account saying, “Still here, still living the dream—grateful to still be playing on the world’s biggest stages, in front of my family, best friends, and fans. It will never get old. Thank you for supporting me through it all @AustralianOpen.” Even after her withdrawal from the 2025 Indian Wells Open, she said, she trusts the “universe” to guide her in the right direction.
The last time Stephens won a singles match was in June 2024 in the first round of Wimbledon. Ever since, she has tasted no success on the singles circuit. In her recent appearance on ‘She’s So Lucky’ podcast, Stephens said, “The tennis journey is a…it’s a very emotional roller coaster. As a pro, I’ve always just been like, focus on controlling the controllables on the court. Figuring out the three things that I really need to do that day, and like focus on that.“
Continuing further, she added, “I’ve been playing professional tennis for 15 years and I don’t think I’ve ever been too high or too low. You just have to like tap into those parts that make you wanna compete harder. Things haven’t happened in like the perfect way or like the way I planned, but I’m like ‘Oh, this is happening now, like alright, let’s ride the wave.’“ Stephens also highlighted, “I firmly believe that if you are not rowing in that direction, you have to get off the boat now.“
After her constant struggle over the past few years, there have already been speculations about Stephens’ retirement. What does the American tennis star have to say about that? Last year, during an interview, she said that she didn’t know how much longer she would play on the Tour.
And, just ahead of this season, she said, “2025 will be important for just the longevity of my career. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play, so just making sure that I enjoy it and having a good time.” Nobody has the answer for how long Stephens is going to extend her astonishing career, which features 8 title triumphs in the WTA Tour-level singles events. While Stephens is not sure when she will retire, she has already figured out how she wants to retire!
Sloane Stephens shares her thoughts on how she wants to be remembered in the tennis world
Addressing all the criticisms she received in the last few years, Stephens previously admitted how she used to get “upset” about what people would write and say about her on TV, etc. But now, things have changed! Talking about her current mindset, the American stated, “I’m like, ‘If these people are still paying me, I’m not going.‘ I think people don’t realize, if someone was paying you a lot of money, you wouldn’t quit your job. You wouldn’t leave your job.” All she now wants is to end her incredible journey on her own terms.
What are her terms, though? Earlier this year, during an ‘Ask me anything‘ Q&A session on IG, a fan asked Stepphens what she wanted her legacy to be in tennis. Responding to that, she said, “I want to leave the game better then just a player, tennis has given me so much opportunity in my life, and in return my true belief is that I owe it to myself and the game to help others achieve dreams bigger than mine.“
Apart from her career on the court, Stephens devotes a lot of time to her ‘Sloane Stephens Foundation,‘ which aims to use tennis and education to help kids overcome poverty, health inequality, and educational underdevelopment. Be it through her on-court achievements or off-court heroics, Stephens is setting an example. Share your thoughts on her incredible journey.
The post 15 Years In, Sloane Stephens on How She’s Tackled Tennis’ ‘Emotional Roller Coaster’- “Get Off the Boat” appeared first on EssentiallySports.