"Cute 7 hour delay” - Sloane Stephens laments airplane delay on her way home after entertaining Atlanta Open display with Taylor Townsend

Sloane Stephens faced a seven-hour flight delay on her way home after entertaining the crowd with Taylor Townsend at the 2024 Atlanta Open. The Americans put on a show on Sunday, July 21 at the ongoing men's 250 event.

The two Grand Slam champions competed in an engaging match against each other to entertain the crowd in a fun night dubbed by the Atlanta Open as the Sunday Showdown. Full of fun and cheers, a surprise marriage proposal in the crowd was included. The southpaw clinched the win against the 2017 US Open champion and shared a hug at the net to bring the exhibition event to an end.

However, on her way back, Stephens took to Instagram to share that she had to face a seven-hour flight delay, but was finally on her way.

"Cute 7 hour @delta delay... finally on my way home," the 31-year-old wrote.

She later posted that she had successfully arrived home.

"Made it home."

Sloane Stephens' Instagram stories (@sloanestephens)

Sloane Stephens, who hasn't been at her finest for the past few years, recently had a very disappointing outing on grass. She kicked off her swing at the Rothesay Classic where she lost to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round following which things went from bad to worse for the American as she was defeated 6-4, 6-0 by Emma Raducanu in the opening round in her subsequent campaign.

The 31-year-old participated at Wimbledon next where she was defeated by Diana Shnaider 6-1, 6-1 in the second round. She teamed up with Ashlyn Kruueger for doubles but suffered an opening-round defeat.

On the other hand, Taylor Townsend won the women's doubles at Wimbledon this year alongside Katerina Siniakova.

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Sloane Stephens discusses her experience playing at Atlanta Open 2024

Sloane Stephens (Image source: GETTY)

In a post-match interview, Sloane Stephens talked about her experience playing Taylor Townsend at the 2024 Atlanta Open. She said (via ajc.com):

“Yeah, it was great. Being able to play in a sold-out crowd makes it incredibly special. But I think they obviously come out a little bit more because they don’t get to see as much women’s tennis so to be able to play here in front of a nice crowd was special.”

This year's edition will be the final one for the Atlanta Open as the men's 250 tournament is set to leave the ATP calendar from the 2025 tennis season.