Stephens holds Keys in final
happened to me before. Oh, my God. That’s a stat.”
Murray went to Stephens’ hotel room Friday night to check on her, using as an excuse for the visit that he needed to deliver some clean laundry. This is how he said the conversation went:
Stephens: “You wanted to see if I was nervous?” Murray: “Yeah.” Stephens: “I am.” “We just laughed and chuckled and talked about it for about 25 minutes, and after that, it was all good,” Murray said. “I mean, probably she was still nervous but, you know, at least give her a chance to get it out.”
Stephens’ late father, John Stephens, was the 1988 NFL offensive rookie of the year for the New England Patriots. And her mother, Sybil Smith, was Boston University’s first All-American in women’s swimming.
In addition to being a super athlete, Stephens seems to thrive in the spotlight: She’s now 5-0 in tournament finals.
A year ago, she sat out the US Open altogether because of her foot problem.
Her debut this season came at Wimbledon in July, when she lost in the first round. Lost her next match, too, in Washington.
Since then, she has gone 15-2. Her ranking, up to 83rd at the start of the US Open, will climb to No 17 on Monday. Oh, and, don’t forget: She is now, and forever will be, a Grand Slam champion.
“I should just retire now,” Stephens joked. After winning the US Open on Saturday, Sloane Stephens held court at a media conference that will go down as one of the more entertaining in the tournament’s history: “I was literally in my room twiddling my thumbs, reading car reviews in Auto Trader. That’s how bored I was. I didn’t have anything to do.” On how she spent the night before the final “First of all, I’m totally not going to graduate. I haven’t done any work for two weeks. I don’t think I’m going to make it. My graduation date is December 14, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. My professors actually texted me, so maybe they’ll let me, you know, slide. I hope I catch a break.” On studying for college while competing on the tour “Shut the front door! I don’t think that’s ever happened to me before. Oh, my God. That’s a stat. Snaps for me.” On being told she had just six unforced errors “Of course, girl. Did you see that check that lady handed me? Like, yes. Man, if that doesn’t make you want to play tennis, I don’t know what will.” On wanting another Slam win “I was worried about my sweaty chest. Because I was, like, this is a picture they are probably going to use and I look terrible. That’s what I remember most about the picture. Sorry.” On how she looked at the trophy ceremony