Sloane Stephens fell outside the top 1,000 after winning the US Open — now she's rebuilding at 33
WTA
Sloane Stephens was a US Open champion, a world No. 3 and one of the biggest names in American tennis. Less than a decade later, she had fallen outside the world's top 1,000, lost 13 matches in a row and was openly discussing how much longer she wanted to continue playing.
Now, at 33, Stephens is attempting one of the most unlikely comebacks of her career. And after everything that has happened since that unforgettable triumph in New York, the former Grand Slam champion is starting to look like a player who isn't ready to disappear just yet.
Sloane Stephens' career in numbers
| Milestone | Achievement |
| Grand Slam titles | 1 |
| US Open title | 2017 |
| Career-high ranking | No. 3 |
| Lowest ranking | Outside No. 1,000 |
| WTA singles titles | 8 |
| 2017 US Open ranking | No. 83* |
| 2017 Wimbledon ranking | No. 957 |
| Losing streak | 13 matches |
| Age in 2026 | 33 |
The early promise: a teenager who beat Serena Williams
Stephens announced herself on the biggest stage in 2013, beating Serena Williams in the Australian Open quarterfinals before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. She followed that with a Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance later that year, where eventual champion Marion Bartoli ended her run, and finished the season as the youngest player inside the WTA's top 20.
Stephens had been tipped for a breakthrough long before 2013. After reaching the third round of the US Open as an 18-year-old wildcard in 2011, she broke into the world's top 20 in 2013 following her run to the Australian Open semifinals, where she stunned Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
Titles followed, including Washington in 2015 and three more in 2016, before a foot injury abruptly halted her momentum.
The trajectory suggested that a long career near the top was coming, even if nobody could have predicted how dramatically Stephens' career would eventually unfold.
Over the following years, she continued building momentum and collecting titles. She won her first WTA title in Washington in 2015 before adding three more in 2016, including her first WTA 500 crown at the Charleston Open. By the age of 23, Stephens already had multiple victories over top-10 opponents, several titles and five consecutive seasons inside the world's top 40.
But just as she appeared ready to take another step forward, a foot injury brought her breakthrough 2016 season to an abrupt end. Stephens missed the US Open and the remainder of the campaign, setting the stage for an even more remarkable chapter the following year.
2017: from world No. 957 to Grand Slam champion in ten weeks
A foot injury and subsequent surgery wiped out almost all of the start of 2017, leaving Stephens to return to competition at Wimbledon ranked a staggering No. 957. Just a year earlier, she had won three titles and climbed as high as No. 21, only for the injury to interrupt what looked like the most promising period of her career.
She returned at Wimbledon, losing in the first round, while also entering the doubles and mixed doubles events in an attempt to build match rhythm as quickly as possible. After a brief spell on the grass, Stephens travelled to North America with little indication of what was about to happen.
Following an early defeat in Washington, everything changed. Stephens went 15-2 for the rest of the summer, reaching back-to-back semifinals as a wildcard in Toronto and Cincinnati before arriving at the US Open and winning the tournament as unseeded - beating her friend Madison Keys in the final.
She became only the fifth unseeded women's Grand Slam champion of the Open Era, completing one of the most remarkable late-season turnarounds in modern tennis. Just ten weeks after returning to competition ranked outside the top 900, Stephens was a Grand Slam champion.
Sloane Stephens — US Open 2017
| Round | Opponent | Opponent rank | Result | Score |
| R128 | Roberta Vinci | 47 | W | 7-5 6-1 |
| R64 | Dominika Cibulkova | 10 | W | 6-2 5-7 6-3 |
| R32 | Ashleigh Barty | 43 | W | 6-2 6-4 |
| R16 | Julia Goerges | 33 | W | 6-3 3-6 6-1 |
| QF | Anastasija Sevastova | 17 | W | 6-3 3-6 7-6(4) |
| SF | Venus Williams | 9 | W | 6-1 0-6 7-5 |
| F | Madison Keys | 16 | W | 6-3 6-0 |
The peak: world No. 3 and a second Grand Slam final
2018 turned out to be the best season of Stephens' career. She won her first Premier Mandatory title in Miami, beating Jelena Ostapenko in the final, made her top-10 debut and reached a second Grand Slam final at Roland Garros.
It was an epic final against Simona Halep, with Stephens taking the opening set before the Romanian world No. 1 fought back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 and finally claim her first Grand Slam title after losing her previous three major finals.
For Stephens, however, it was still a remarkable year. Her first Premier Mandatory title came in March against Ostapenko, followed by defeats in three major finals — the French Open and Canadian Open against Halep, and then the WTA Finals against Elina Svitolina.
Those losses were disappointing after getting so close, but they were also huge results for a player who appeared to have everything in place to remain a dominant force in the following years and become one of the leading figures in American tennis in the post-Serena and Venus Williams era.
The US Open title wasn't a one-off. In 2018, Stephens proved she belonged at the very top of the sport.
She won Miami, reached the French Open final and climbed to a career-high world No. 3.
Suddenly, the question wasn't whether Stephens could win a Grand Slam. It was whether she could become one of the defining players of her generation.
The collapse: 13 losses in a row and a ranking outside the top 1,000
It would take several years for Stephens to even return to a WTA-level final, while her Grand Slam appearances also failed to produce particularly deep runs in the seasons that followed. Quarterfinal appearances at Roland Garros in 2019 and 2022 were her best results, relatively modest achievements for a player from whom expectations had been so high after her breakthrough.
Stephens nevertheless established herself as a player with plenty of pedigree, remaining competitive against big names and regularly finding ways to advance through the rounds at major tournaments. She turned 30 in 2023 and was still comfortably inside the top 50, even if she had lost the prominence she had enjoyed in previous years.
Then came 2024, which turned genuinely bad. Stephens finished the season with a losing record and a six-match losing streak. Entering 2025, she admitted that she did not know how much longer she would continue playing.
She then lost all six matches she played that year before a foot injury sidelined her for roughly seven months. During that time, she took on a very different role, working as an ESPN broadcaster at the same US Open she had once won. By the time she returned to competitive tennis, the losing streak had reached 13 matches and her ranking had fallen outside the world's top 1,000.
Stephens' 13-match losing streak
| # | Week | Tournament | Stephens Rk. | Opponent | Opponent Rk. | Score |
| 1 | 1-Jul-2024 | Wimbledon | 50 | Diana Shnaider | 30 | 1-6, 1-6 |
| 2 | 29-Jul-2024 | Washington | 45 | Amanda Anisimova | 176 | 3-6, 5-7 |
| 3 | 5-Aug-2024 | Toronto | 47 | Greet Minnen | 74 | 2-6, 2-6 |
| 4 | 26-Aug-2024 | US Open | 62 | Clara Burel | 56 | 6-0, 5-7, 5-7 |
| 5 | 9-Sep-2024 | Guadalajara | 63 | Olivia Gadecki | 152 | 4-6, 3-6 |
| 6 | 16-Sep-2024 | Seoul | 65 | Hailey Baptiste | 105 | 6-7(4), 2-6 |
| 7 | 30-Dec-2024 | Auckland | 74 | Ann Li | 96 | 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 |
| 8 | 6-Jan-2025 | Hobart | 84 | Ann Li | 91 | 5-7, 1-6 |
| 9 | 13-Jan-2025 | Australian Open | 81 | Aryna Sabalenka | 1 | 3-6, 2-6 |
| 10 | 24-Feb-2025 | Merida | 115 | Petra Martic | 124 | 2-6, 3-6 |
| 11 | 8-Sep-2025 | Guadalajara | 1051 | Lucrezia Stefanini | 148 | 4-6, 6-4, 1-6 |
| 12 | 13-Oct-2025 | Tampico 125 | 1092 | Sahaja Yamalapalli | 347 | 2-6, 2-6 |
| 13 | 5-Jan-2026 | Auckland | 1098 | Renata Zarazua | 77 | 5-7, 6-4, 2-6 |
The comeback: rebuilding at 33
The streak finally ended in January 2026, when Stephens beat Barbora Palicova in the first round of Australian Open qualifying — her first win in more than 18 months. She had already dismissed retirement speculation months earlier, insisting that as long as she was still being paid to play, she was not going anywhere.
By the summer, that first win had developed into a genuine rebuild. Stephens climbed from outside the top 1,000 back inside the top 250 and reached the third round in Cincinnati, including a win over 24th seed Anastasia Potapova before losing to Marta Kostyuk.
Stephens may never get back to world No. 3. She may never win another Grand Slam. At 33, those expectations would be unrealistic.
But that almost misses the point. A player who once stood outside the world's top 1,000 is now back inside the top 250 and competing with seeded players at major tournaments.
Sloane Stephens: then vs now
| 2018 | 2026 |
| World No. 3 | Rebuilding her ranking |
| US Open champion | Returning from outside top 1,000 |
| Miami champion | Fighting through qualifying |
| French Open finalist | Competing for ranking points |
| One of WTA's biggest stars | Veteran comeback story |
For a player who had lost 13 matches in a row and was being asked whether retirement was next, that is already an extraordinary turnaround.
Read also
Sloane Stephens isn't the player she was in 2017. But she isn't finished, either.
Cristhián AvilaTennis Journalist
Cristhián Ávila is a tennis journalist based in Santiago, Chile, and has been part of the TennisUpToDate team since early 2023. He covers the ATP and WTA Tours as well as all four Grand Slams, producing breaking news, match reports, analysis, and regular liveblogs from major tournaments.
His reporting combines statistical analysis with clear explanation, helping readers understand tactical developments, player form, and broader storylines across the tour. Working fluently in both Spanish and English, Cristhián collaborates with an international editorial team and contributes to comprehensive global coverage. As part of his work, he has conducted interviews and media interactions with leading figures in the sport, including Caroline Wozniacki and John McEnroe.
In his journalism, Cristhián places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. His coverage is grounded in research, context, and direct engagement with professional tennis.
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