This fortnight at the US Open, Sloane Stephens is wowing tennis fans with her spectacular run to the semifinals, so I thought it would be fun to add some cute photos of the American to my Little Tennis Stars series.
Sloane was born in a sporting family. Her mother is Sybil Smith, a former collegiate swimmer at Boston University, and father, John Stephens, was an NFL player in 1980s and 1990s, who was killed in a car accident just before the 2009 US Open.
The 24-year-old Sloane started playing tennis at the age of nine, at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, in Fresno, California. Two years later she relocated from Fresno to Boca Raton, Florida, where she began training at the Evert Tennis Academy before moving to Nick Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy.
Below is a photo of little Sloane dancing with her grandfather. How cute!
Now that we’re awaiting Sloane’ encounter with Venus Williams in the US Open final four, let me remind you that the American entered the 2017 US Open Series ranked No.957, due to a long injury layoff, while when Monday’s WTA rankings are run, she will break back at least into the Top 35, jumping over 900 spots in just over a month. What an achievement!
Those bright eyes and cute dimples make her so adorable in these pics! “Congrats, Sloane, on an amazing comeback!”
I think it will be written in the history forever! What a come back for her. Cute photos too! She’s adorable. What a character!
Great photos of a future GS winner. Thanks for posting these Marija.