24-year-old Sloane Stephens won her first Grand Slam title last week after she defeated Madison Keys in the US Open finals. Stephens began playing tennis at age nine in Fresno after being introduced to the game by her mom Sybil, the first African-American female named First Team All-American in DI history (as a swimmer at Boston University). Stephens challenged her first opponent professionally in the 2007 ITF Circuit and continued her pro debut as a qualifier in the 2009 US Open. After her performance at Wimbledon in 2011, Stephens earned her career-high ranking at No. 125 worldwide. She fell in the 2011 US Open, but finished the year as the youngest athlete in the top 100 as No. 97. Stephens opened 2012 as a second-round participant in the Australian Open, but eventually lost in the event. She made it to the fourth-round of the French Open and participated in both the US and Australian Opens in the same year. Stephens participated in the 2014 and 2015 Australian and French Opens before continuing her runs at Wimbledon and the US Open. After competing in the 2016 Australian and French Opens as well as in 2016 and 2017 Wimbledon, Stephens earned her first Grand Slam title at the 2017 US Open, besting Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-0. Stephens has challenged herself and her opponents greatly over the years and her fans can expect to see her career take off like the great Serena Williams or Kim Clijsters.
