After injury layoff, Stephens sees win in first-round loss
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND Sloane Stephens has always been a player who takes defeats hard, but at Wimbledon on Tuesday the American could hardly be angry about losing.
When Stephens, 24, stepped onto Court 14, it was to play her first official match in 11 months. Unfortunately, she was facing fellow American Alison Riske, a natural competitor on grass courts, who scored a 6-2, 7-5 win.
“It was tiring,” Stephens said. “I was glad I was able to get out there and play some good tennis at times. It was good. It was nice.
“I had no expectations,” she added. “Just go out there and play as well as I could. Obviously, it’s a big ask to play Ali in the first round; her best surface is grass. I did the best I could. I’m pleased with — I mean, obviously not that I didn’t win, but that I was able to get out there and I was pain-free.”
The last time Stephens ventured on a court to play a tournament was at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro last August — she lost her opening match to Genie Bouchard of Canada.
A foot injury kept her sidelined since Rio, although she prepared to play at the beginning of this year. She made the long journey to Sydney in January, thinking she was ready to get back on court only to discover she had a stress fracture and a cyst, which required surgery.
Forced by injury to spend time away from the game, Stephens experienced a rare opportunity to live outside of the tennis cocoon most players tend to function within.
“There is always other things going on in the world, but I missed tennis and I missed seeing my friends,” she said. “I mean, my life is tennis. I travel every week.
“It was just different being home, but I had a great time. I got to spend time with family and things I normally wouldn’t be able to do. Holidays I missed, birthdays I had missed. My cousin’s soccer games, things like that. I was able to be present for the first time in a long time.”
Stephens was once considered the future “it” girl of American tennis when in 2013 she posted a surprising Australian Open semifinal finish.
She did well enough to eventually rise to a career-high No. 11 in the rankings.
But as often happens, the attention and pressure took its toll. She started to have mixed results and often seemed unable to cope with not always being in winning mode.
By the beginning of 2016, Stephens was starting to find her form again. She would win three titles — Auckland, Acapulco and Charleston.
Unfortunately, life takes different turns, and that’s when the foot injury developed, which now finds her technically ranked No. 336 and playing here on a protected ranking. Older and wiser, she is taking a much more conservative approach to her tennis.
Asked when she’ll be back to normal footing on a tennis court, she replied, “Who knows? I wish I could tell you, but I guess it’s a matter of playing and just trying to work your way back into it in match situations and a lot of tennis.”