Sloane Stephens: The comeback queen
On Saturday, Sloane Stephens won her first ever Grand Slam title by brushing past Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 at the US Open final. After receiving her prize money of $3.7 million, Stephens remarked, "I should just retire now. I'll never be able to top this." Given her incredible comeback, though, it is hard to imagine that she will.
With her victory (which will see her climbing to 17th), Stephens became only the fifth un-seeded player to win a women's major title. A year back, she had to pull out of this very event because of a foot injury and had to undergo a surgery. By the time she returned at Wimbledon this year, Stephens had slid to 957th in world rankings.
The 11-month lay off proved to be a roller-coaster ride for the 24-year-old Stephens. After undergoing the surgery in January, she enjoyed a brief a stint as a commentator. She gradually progressed from a "peg leg" to a walking boot, and then started some modified on-court drills. Finally, in July, she made her return at Wimbledon, losing in the first round in straight sets.
That Wimbledon loss, though, has proven to be the spark that ignited Stephens's meteoric rise. After that, she went on the 8-3 run, reaching two semi-finals in Toronto and in Cincinnati. Consequently, her ranking kept rising, and she entered the last Slam as the World No. 83. On Monday, she would have climbed 940 spots in one month. Now that's an impressive comeback.
