Sloane Steady

After a gruelling rehab from foot surgery, unseeded SLOANE STEPHENS, 24, rediscovered her love for the game and surprised even herself in winning a historic U.S. Open.

- S.L. Price

BY A CERTAIN POINT, what with all the milestones and landmarks celebrated at the 2017 U.S. Open, it seemed fair to wonder: Can a sport overdose on significance? Because if you weren’t hearing about the 60th anniversary of Althea Gibson’s first U.S. title, you were hearing a speech about the 50th anniversary of Billie Jean King’s. Or reliving, with the coming release of a new movie, King’s barrier-busting victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. Or marking, with four U.S. women in the semi-finals, the seeming revival of American might.

That, of course, was underpinned by the historic fact that three of those women are African-American, which led to the first major final ever contested by two black players not named Williams. With the crowning of Sloane Stephens, 24, as U.S. Open champion, the generation inspired by Venus and Serena had, at last, arrived.

“Tennis has gotten out of the country clubs,” says Chris Evert. “The barriers have really been torn down. It’s not a snobby, white, rich sport anymore.”