Sloane Stephens: "Some people may say I didn't do everything I should have done in tennis but I've been able to do all the things I wanted"
Big things were expected of Sloane Stephens after she won the 2017 US Open by defeating the legendary Venus Williams in the semifinals and Madison Keys in the final. The triumph helped Stephens seal the WTA Comeback Player of the Year award; she finished the season ranked World No. 13.
Despite a couple of quarterfinal runs at Grand Slams since then, the American has not been able to recreate that same magic. But Stephens has no regrets about her tennis career whatsoever; she recently called it "amazing" and something she was proud of.
Speaking at her press conference after her 6-0, 6-4 win over Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the 2023 French Open, the World No. 30 also touched on the rigorous demands of the tennis calendar and admitted that it made hobbies impossible to pursue.
"I mean, obviously my tennis career has been amazing. My professional career outside of tennis has been amazing. I have been able to do incredible things, and a lot of the work and things behind the scenes I have been very proud of," Sloane Stephens said.
"I think that obviously with tennis being an 11-month sport it does limit you and the things you're passionate about outside of tennis that there is definitely some conflicting time, and I do think you have to make a lot of sacrifices in terms of whether it's going to be tennis or your other passions and things that you want to do, so that's obviously tough," she added.
Sloane Stephens is also happy about the things she has been able to accomplish outside tennis - like getting her college degree and masters degree. While the former World No. 3 is certain some people would call her an underachiever, she is not bothered by that as in her mind she has already accomplished all that she set out to.
"Yeah, some people may say that I didn't do everything I should have done in tennis, but I think in life when you can be proud of the things that you have done and the choices and decisions that you make for yourself, at the end of the day that's all that really matters," Sloane Stephens said.
"But I think in my tennis career I have been able to do all of the things that I have wanted to do. I have graduated college, I got my degree, got my master's degree, done everything I wanted to do, which has been really nice," she added.
"There are a lot of great stories and things that people don't speak about enough" - Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens does not think it is harsh for the media to judge athletes solely on their sporting achievements, as she feels that is natural for the world we live in. The American emphasized there are a lot of great stories out there, and that she understands why it is impossible for all of them to be covered.
"I think there are a lot of great stories and things that people don't speak about enough. I mean, that's just the world we live in, right? Not every single story is going to be covered and not every interesting thing in someone's life will be covered," Sloane Stephens said. "But it is what it is. You guys are here to watch me play tennis at the French Open."