{"id":76808,"date":"2024-12-24T07:30:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T12:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=76808"},"modified":"2024-12-23T05:14:24","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T10:14:24","slug":"sloane-stephens-season-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/24\/sloane-stephens-season-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Sloane Stephens 2024 Season Review: A Collapse After Promising Start"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a few years since Sloane Stephens’s career peak in 2017 and 2018. She memorably won the 2017 US Open<\/a> and was the runner-up at the French Open<\/a> and WTA Finals in 2018. Although the American has remained in the Top 100 in the years since, she has never rediscovered her previous level. Stephens briefly produced some of her best tennis since 2018 during the 2024 season, but a dramatic collapse followed that.<\/p>\n

Sloane Stephens 2024 Season Review<\/h2>\n

Steady Results During Opening Three Months<\/h4>\n

The former US Open<\/a> winner only managed one victory at the Brisbane International and Hobart International to start 2024. However, she then had her best tournament at the Australian Open<\/a> since 2019. The 31-year-old failed to get past the opening round from 2020-2023 but ended that barren run with triumphs against Olivia Gadecki and the No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina. She exited after losing a match of exceptional quality against Anna Kalinskaya.<\/p>\n

After losing to Sorana Cirstea in the first round of the Qatar, Stephens progressed past the opening round at the Dubai Championships, ATX Open, Indian Wells Open, and the Miami Open. That included a run to the round of 32 at the Indian Wells Open, where Kasatkina avenged her Australian Open loss by triumphing in three sets.<\/p>\n

Peaking During the Opening Weeks of the Clay Court Swing<\/h4>\n

Stephens won two matches at the Charleston Open before losing to Danielle Collins, who won 13 consecutive matches in 2024 to win back-to-back titles at the Miami Open and in Charleston. The best moment of Stephens’ season came in her next tournament on the indoor clay courts at the Rouen Open. After recovering from a set down against Peyton Stearns in the opening round, Stephens defeated two-time Grand Slam runner-up Karolina Pliskova, Yue Yuan, and home favorite Caroline Garcia. A three-set final victory against Magd Linette<\/a> sealed the American’s second title at the WTA 250 level and above since 2018.<\/p>\n

That momentum continued at the Madrid Open. Stephens showed her fighting qualities to win lengthy battles against Martina Trevisan and Greet Minnen. Maria Sakkari produced an excellent performance to beat her in the round of 32, but there were many reasons to be optimistic at that stage. That made Stephens’ decline in results afterward surprising.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>