Sloane Stephens sheds light on 11-month injury break that led to her US Open title win and a new perspective on life

Sloane Stephens has reflected on her 11-month injury hiatus before going on to win the US Open title in 2017. Stephens' win in New York remains her only Grand Slam title to date.

In 2016, after losing in the first round to Eugenie Bouchard at the Rio Olympics, Stephens revealed that she had been struggling with an injury on her left foot for most of the year

Following her early exit from the quadrennial event, the former World No. 3 took time off after being diagnosed with a stress fracture. She then underwent surgery and missed the first half of the 2017 season, returning to the court at Wimbledon where she lost in the first round to Alison Riske.

After Wimbledon, Sloane Stephens had a semifinal run at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, where she was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep, respectively. She then competed at the US Open, where she defeated compatriot Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the final to claim her first Grand Slam title

While speaking to Caroline Garcia and her fiancé Borja Duran on their podcast 'Tennis Insider Club,' Stephens opened up about her time off from tennis due to her foot injury and subsequent surgery. She mentioned that while the break was necessary for her recovery, it was also quite "boring."

“It was great but it was very boring. When I first got injured I had foot surgery so I was 16 weeks in a boot in the off-season from like October like all like through to December basically. Then I went to Brisbane and I was like, ‘Man my foot is still hurting. I don’t know what’s wrong with it. Maybe I’m nervous, maybe I’m stressed out because I haven’t played since the US Open,’” Sloane Stephens said [20:42].

Stephens revealed that at the beginning of the 2017 season, she traveled to Brisbane to compete, but her foot continued to cause her problems. After consulting with doctors, it was determined that she needed another surgery, keeping her out of the tennis circuit for almost seven months before her return at Wimbledon.

“And I went to the doctor and they were like, ‘You need surgery. It’s not fixed, it’s worse than it was before.’ I was already in Australia so I literally flew home and had this surgery and I was out for - I played Wimbledon, it was my first tournament back - so that is like seven months,” she added [21:18].

Stephens also spoke about what all she did during her extended spell away from the court.

“I had already not played since the [2016] US Open so it was like 11 months. I got to do all the things that I wanted to do. I would go to weddings, baby showers and graduations. It was great. It was fun but it was like I was finding a new purpose in my life. I graduated from school, was getting my undergraduate degree. I did some live TV, I did some commentating,” Sloane Stephens said [21:48].

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A look into Sloane Stephens' US Open 2017 campaign

Sloane Stephens at the 2017 U.S. Open [Source: Getty]

Sloane Stephens had used her protected ranking to secure a spot in the main draw of the 2017 US Open. She began her campaign with a convincing victory over Roberta Vinci with a score of 7-5, 6-1 in the first round. She then defeated 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in the second round.

Stephens then triumphed over Ashleigh Barty 6-2, 6-4, and then took down the 30th seed Julia Gorges 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.

In the quarterfinals, the former World No.3 overcame 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) and then registered a 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 win over ninth seed Venus Williams in the semifinals to secure her place in the championship match.

In the final, Sloane Stephens defeated 15th seed Madison Keys 6–3, 6–0 to win the 2017 US Open.