Like A Rolling Sloane

SLOANE STEPHENS’ nothing-to-lose attitude helped win her the US Open last summer. Can she recapture that spirit this year?

- Stephen Tignor

A reporter wanted to know: now that Sloane Stephens had shocked the world and won her first Grand Slam title at Flushing Meadows, was she hungry for more?

Stephens, sitting a few inches from the US Open trophy, flashed her questioner a side-eyed, “Are you kidding me?” glance. The answer, her look said, should have been obvious. 

“Of course, girl!” Stephens said. 

Was it the glory, or the trophy, or the satisfaction of a job well done that inspired Stephens’ response? Yes, those things were nice. But at that moment she had a more tangible motivating factor in mind.

“Did you see that check that lady handed me?” Stephens asked, as laughter swept the media room. The check she was referring to was her prize money: a cool $3.7 million. “Man, if that doesn’t make you want to play tennis, I don’t know what will.”

By the time the laughter had died down, it was clear that a new type of tennis star had been born. Over the course of an afternoon, on one of the biggest stages in the sport, the Florida native had played the roles of champion, friend and comedian with equal ease.

Stephens began by dropping just three games in beating fellow American Madison Keys in her first Grand Slam final. Then, in a moment that was more memorable than the match itself, she wrapped her friend in a long, consoling hug at the net. Finally, Stephens showed off her chops as a cut-up in the press room.

“I’m going to totally put this in my bio: US Open champion,” Stephens said with her customary straight-faced sarcasm.