Stephens tops Keys in US Open final for 1st Grand Slam title
Jason
2017-09-11 11:00:12
NEW YORK - Sloane Stephens' remarkably rapid rise from a ranking of 957th in early August to US Open champion on Saturday began with the slow work of coming back from surgery on her left foot.
After being off tour for 11 months because of her injury, Stephens easily beat her close friend Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the first Grand Slam final for both, becoming only the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.
"I mean, there is no words to describe how I got here — the process it took or anything like that," Stephens said, "because if you told someone this story, they'd be, like, 'That's insane.'"
After the operation in January, Stephens couldn't walk for a month. It wasn't until May that she would get back onto a tennis court — and even then she was off her feet, plopped on a wood table at a practice facility at UCLA while aiming her racket at balls tossed by her coach, Kamau Murray. From there, Murray said, Stephens progressed to sitting while rolling around on an armless office chair. Two weeks later, Stephens finally was able to stand in place while working on her swing. Another two weeks, and she was allowed to move.
After being off tour for 11 months because of her injury, Stephens easily beat her close friend Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in the first Grand Slam final for both, becoming only the second unseeded woman to win the tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968.
"I mean, there is no words to describe how I got here — the process it took or anything like that," Stephens said, "because if you told someone this story, they'd be, like, 'That's insane.'"
After the operation in January, Stephens couldn't walk for a month. It wasn't until May that she would get back onto a tennis court — and even then she was off her feet, plopped on a wood table at a practice facility at UCLA while aiming her racket at balls tossed by her coach, Kamau Murray. From there, Murray said, Stephens progressed to sitting while rolling around on an armless office chair. Two weeks later, Stephens finally was able to stand in place while working on her swing. Another two weeks, and she was allowed to move.
"Sloane is truly one of my favorite people and to get to play her was really special. Obviously I didn't play my best tennis today and was disappointed," Keys said. "But Sloane, being the great friend that she is, was very supportive. And if there's someone I have to lose to today, I'm glad it's her."They hammed it up afterward, too. When Stephens was presented with her $3.7 million winner's check, she grabbed Keys' arm, as if to stop herself from fainting at the sum.
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