Sloane Stephens will make her debut in the world’s top ten next Monday after reaching the semi-final of the Miami Open with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of Angelique Kerber.
“I’m so tired of them being, like, career-high ranking, No. 11,” the American said in her post-match press conference. “Finally I can move in there. That’s really exciting.”
Stephens continued, “Obviously (it is) something I have wanted to do for a while, and it’s not easy. It’s really not easy. Getting to 11 was hard, and so getting into the top 10 is pretty special. I’m super excited about that. It’s something I have worked hard for for a long time. I couldn’t really be any happier.”
Hard Work Pays Off
The American explained that the most difficult matches are often the unglamorous ones and not clashes with the likes of Kerber or Garbine Muguruza.
She said, “I think where the work is done is when you’re on, like, Court 75 and you’re playing Niculescu, and she’s slicing and dicing you to Beijing, basically, and you’re having to really fight and struggle. I think those are where you fight your tail off to be able to get to Centre Court and play girls like that.”
Against Kerber, Stephens also had to deal with the wind, but she argues that is just part of the life of a professional tennis player.
She said, “Today it was obviously super windy. I don’t want to play in wind. She doesn’t want to play in wind. It’s uncomfortable for both of us, but there are always going to be things that you can’t control whatsoever and you’ve just got to go with it.”
“Sometimes it’s not a bad thing because you kind of push yourself to places that you really would not normally go if the conditions were perfect and we were both playing great,” she continued. “I have just learned to embrace it because it’s totally out of my control.”
Finding Form Again
While Stephens’ performances have definitely gone up a notch in Miami, she was happy with her form in Indian Wells too, and she expressed her relief at finding form again.
She said, “I wanted to get back to where I was. Obviously playing well in Toronto and Cincinnati and US Open, that was all great, but to do it over time and keep it going is the hardest part.”
“So I think that I’m in a little bit better shape, a little bit better place,” the American continued. “Last week (in Indian Wells) I didn’t play poorly, but obviously tough result. I lost to the person who made the final, which isn’t bad.”
Managing Expectations
Stephens also talked about the negative press and comments she has had to deal with during her poor run of form stretching from the US Open last September until Acapulco at the end of February.
She said, “Obviously if you don’t win, people are super upset and they’re, like, ‘You’re never going to be the same.’ All the things that you guys write about are rather insane to me.”
“But I think that patience will outdo anything, hard work will outdo anything, and sometimes life happens and things happen and you have to just go with it. Like I said, I didn’t plan to win the US Open. It wasn’t in my brain that I’m going to win the US Open and then everything is going to be great.”
The American continued, “Winning the US Open was an amazing experience, and everything that came after that. And I think now, after Australia, I knew what I had to do to get myself back in shape and back ready to play, and I just stayed patient with myself.”
