Table of Contents
- Sloane Stephens is a victim of racial injustice fuelled by cyberbullies
- She says her three-set match loss at the US Open 2021 opened the flood gates of racial abuse
- She won the US Open Grand Slam in 2017 after battling injury for 11 months
Sloane Stephens was widely regarded as the next Serena Williams, and she deserves every ounce of admiration that comes her way.
Stephens, a former US Open champion was recovering from a catastrophic injury throughout the 2016 tennis season.
For the next eleven months, she was unable to compete due to a fracture in her left foot. The injury hurt her rising status as more people prophesied she could be the next ‘Serena’ in tennis, cites the Guardian. Stephens triumphed at the US Open in 2017. For the first time, she won a Grand Slam.
In 2018, Stephens reached the finals in Paris and became one of the world’s top 10 players. Amid all this is a black woman who has stood for racial justice through tennis. During the US Open 2020, she wore a facemask with a deep racial justice emblazoned. She wore a different facemask in each of her matches, each with a deep message on the need for racial justice.
Many of her peers in tennis lauded her for using this platform to address such a deep-rooted issue in the US. She did this since she has been a victim of racial abuse, especially after losing matches.
Stephens in action. Photo/USA Today
It is also the case with other black players, Naomi Osaka being a perfect example of racial vitriol that people of colour go through.
“This type of hate is so exhausting and never-ending,” she wrote in her Instastories. She also recalls a barrage of racist messages she received after losing a three-set match at the US Open 2021.
Cyberbullying fuelled by racism is something she vows will never set her back from success. But who is the tennis player Stephens?
IS SLOANE STEPHENS MARRIED YET?
First, the 32-year-old is off the market. Stephens got married to Toronto FC and USMNT forward Jozy Altidore on New Year’s Day, 2022. The couple let the public into their lives in April 2019 after announcing their engagement.
Born in Plantation, Florida in 1993, Stephens inherited her athleticism from her mother Sybil Smith. She was an All-American swimmer at BU. Her father, John Stephens, was an NFL running back too. However, a young Stephens did not like swimming at all – at least not on a competition level.
Growing up, she recalls, the important life lesson her mother taught her outside of athletics was to always help others. Smith told her daughter that this would help her too later in life.
Stephens, a promising tennis player, chose homeschooling as a result of a difficult schedule. She admitted to Newsday that she “lost out on some fun stuff” that comes with the standard high school experience. But her decision helped pave the path for a successful career.
Stephens went straight on tour as a professional player after high school, but she eventually had the opportunity to further her studies and become a college student.
Stephens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Indiana University East through a partnership between the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the university while continuing on tour.
Her biggest source of encouragement for taking up tennis was her stepfather, who was a competitive recreational player. Stephens relocated to Florida to work with Nick Saviano at a tennis academy. In 2010, she and her doubles partner, Tmea Babos, won three of the four Grand Slam girls’ doubles titles. She was a good junior player.
WHAT IS STEPHENS RANKING?
Stephens has a WTA ranking of world. No 134. However, she has had a career ranking of world No.3 after 2018 Wimbledon.
Stephens had just won her first Grand Slam at the US Open in 2017. She was in recovery after a left foot injury that took close to a year to heal.
Despite being only 19 years old, Stephens became a household name in the 2013 Australian Open after defeating then world No. 3, Serena Williams, in the semifinals. By the end of 2015, she had dropped to outside the top 25 after having peaked at No. 11 in late 2013. In the first half of 2016, she won three WTA titles under the guidance of Kamau Murray, a new coach.
Due to an injury to her foot, she was forced to miss the entire season. In her fifth tournament back after a lengthy injury absence, she won the US Open singles title. In recognition of her remarkable comeback season, she was named the WTA Comeback Player of the Year.
Sloane Stephens. Photo/New York Times
Ahead of the WTA Finals, she won her maiden Premier Mandatory title at the Miami Open. She also reached a second Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros, and became a member of the Top 10, and finished runner-up at the WTA Championships.
HOW RICH IS SLOANE STEPHENS?
It is safe to say the tennis player is doing fairly well in life with an estimated net worth of $20 million. She earns $500,000 annually.
Stephens raked in a total of $18,873,895 in prize money as of 2025. The $3.7 million she won from her first Grand Slam victory was a career-high. When it comes to sponsorships, Stephens was the fifth-highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2019, earning $9.6 million.
