"Sloane Stephens"

Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Her current rank is World No. 36, as of October 8, 2012, which is also her career high in singles. She is currently the youngest woman in the WTA top 50.

Stephens was born in Plantation, Florida to Sybil Smith (who, in 1988 as a swimmer at Boston University, became the first African-American female to be named First Team All-American in Division I history) and John Stephens, a professional American football player. Stephens had no connection with her father until she was 13, when she began a close over-the-phone friendship with him. John Stephens was killed in a car accident on September 1, 2009, just before the start of the US Open. Stephens attended her father's funeral in Louisiana, but remained entered in the US Open.

She started playing tennis at the age of 9 when her mother introduced the sport to her. She stated that her favorite surface is clay when she entered 2012 Wimbledon Championships.

She has cited Kim Clijsters, and close friends Serena Williams and Venus Williams as her inspirations in tennis.

Stephens had a breakthrough year in 2008, when she finished the US Open Junior doubles as runner-up alongside partner Mallory Burdette. Later at the Grade A Orange Bowl, she made it to the semifinals as a wildcard, before losing in three sets to compatriot Christina McHale.

Stephens continued her form in 2009, capturing the singles and doubles titles at Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships (partnering with Mallory Burdette). Stephens then traveled to Italy, where she captured the Grade A Italian Open singles title. The following week, Stephens participated in her first overseas junior Grand Slam, the French Open. As a qualifier, Stephens reached the semifinals, before losing 5–7, 3–6 to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic.

The following month, Stephens reached the quarterfinals at the junior Wimbledon, before losing again to Mladenovic. Stephens reached a career high junior ranking of world no. 5 on August 10, 2009.

Seeded fourth at the junior US Open, Stephens lost in three sets to 14th seed Jana Čepelová in the first round.

At the 2010 Junior Wimbledon Championship, Sloane made it to the quarterfinals of the singles and won the doubles title with Tímea Babos, winning a tough three-setter in the final, 6–7, 6–2, 6–2.

Stephens played her first professional events on the ITF Circuit in late 2007. In spring 2008, Stephens received a wildcard into her first WTA event, the Sony Ericssson Open in Miami, but lost to Ekaterina Bychkova in the first round. During the summer, Stephens won a small ITF doubles tournament with partner Christina McHale. She received a wildcard into the US Open qualifying rounds where she defeated seventh seeded Melinda Czink but then lost in straight sets to Stefanie Vögele.

In 2009, Stephens began the year playing several ITF tournaments with moderate success. She received another qualifying wildcard into the Sony Ericsson Open, losing in the first round to Akgul Amanmuradova. In the summer, Stephens received another qualifying wildcard into a WTA tournament: the LA Women's Tennis Championships. There, Stephens won her first WTA match against Lenka Wienerová, but fell in the second round of qualifying to Anastasia Rodionova.

During the summer, Stephens played World Team Tennis for the New York Buzz. Stephens' last professional tournament of the 2009 season was the US Open, where she received a qualifying wildcard for the second year in a row. Stephens lost in the first round of qualifying. In October, Stephens turned professional when she signed with BEST.

Stephens qualified for the 2010 BNP Paribas Open, where she defeated Lucie Hradecká 7–6, 7–6, in the first round. She then lost against the defending champion, 12th-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 4–6, 5–7.

Stephens made another run at the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, where she defeated fellow American Jamie Hampton in the first round. In the second round, she lost to world no. 1, and eventual champion, Caroline Wozniacki. The next week, as a wildcard entry, she won both matches at the qualifying stage of the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open to qualify for a spot in the main draw.

In May 2011 Stephens won the $50,000 2011 Camparini Gioielli Cup. It was her first tournament win on the ITF circuit. Stephens then participated in the qualifying draw of the French Open as the 21st seed. She beat Anastasia Pivovarova in the qualifying competition to qualify for the main draw event. She lost to Elena Baltacha in the first round.

At the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Stephens was the 12th seed in qualifying. She lost in the second round to Nina Bratchikova. Following her improved performance at Wimbledon, she reached a career-high ranking of world no. 125 on July 4, 2011.

Stephens was given a wildcard in San Diego, Stephens made her first WTA quarterfinals, defeating Julia Goerges en route. However, she lost to Andrea Petkovic in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the first round of Cincinnati and the final qualifying round of New Haven.

Being granted a wildcard to the US Open, she won her first main draw Grand Slam match by beating Réka-Luca Jani 6–2, 3–6, 7–6 in the first round. She backed up this win by beating 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er 6–1, 7–6, in the second round. She then lost to former world no. 1 Ana Ivanovic.

In 2012, Stephens reached the second round of the Australian Open, where she lost to 18th seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Stephens was then given a wildcard to play in the 2012 Indian Wells Masters where she made it to the second round. She then qualified for the 2012 Miami Masters where she advanced to the third round, defeating the No. 30 seed Sara Errani in the 2nd round. After failing to qualify for the 2012 Madrid Masters she qualified for the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia and advanced to the second round.

Stephens then traveled to Strasbourg. She advanced to the second round after Maria Kirilenko retired at 3–6, 7–5. Stephens then beat fellow teenager Tímea Babos 6–2, 3–6, 6–3, before advancing to the semifinals with a straight set 6–3, 6–4 win over Ayumi Morita. Stephens was defeated in the semifinals by former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. It was Stephens' first trip to the semifinals of a WTA tournament.

Sloane Stephens advanced to the fourth round of the 2012 French Open by defeating Ekaterina Makarova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Mathilde Johansson. In the fourth round, she lost to sixth seed Samantha Stosur 7–5, 6–4, ending the teenager's best run at a major slam.

Stephens advanced to the third round of Wimbledon by defeating Karolina Pliskova 6–2, 6–2 in the first round and upsetting 23rd seed Petra Cetkovská 7–6, 4–6, 6–3 in the second round. In the third round, she lost to German Sabine Lisicki 6–7, 6–1, 2–6.

Stephens travelled to Washington, D.C. to compete in the 2012 Citi Open. She was seeded third. She defeated Sesil Karatantcheva in the first round, Michelle Larcher De Brito in the second, and Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals, but fell to Magdaléna Rybáriková 3–6, 3–6 in the semifinals.

In the 2012 US Open, she participated in Women's Singles, Women's Doubles with Tímea Babos, and Mixed Doubles with Rajeev Ram. In the first round of women's singles, she stunned 22nd seed Francesca Schiavone 6–3, 6–4 in front of the home crowd in the Louis Armstrong stadium. She then defeated Tatjana Malek 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 in the second round. Stephens then faced No. 12 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Ivanovic was two games away from losing against American crowd favorite Sloane Stephens, but she managed to dig deep and prevail in a marathon 6–7, 6–4, 6–2 win with plenty of dramatic points and shifts in momentum. The turning point of the match came at 4–4 in the second set, when Stephens held several game points on her own serve to go up 5–4. Ivanovic had been gambling on her forehand returns all match with mixed success, but finally found her range and struck two clean winners on that side to earn the break of serve at 5–4. Although she had squandered chances to take the lead throughout the first set, she made good on her chance to serve out the second set and easily held after Stephens sent a backhand long. The third set also featured some initial shifts of momentum, but Ivanovic grabbed an early break in the third set and never looked back, comfortably closing things out on her first match point after well over two hours of play. In women's doubles, she and Babos lost in the first round against Janette Husárová and Magdaléna Rybáriková 7–5, 4–6, 2–6. In mixed doubles, she and Ram defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Horia Tecau 6–2, 5–7, [10–8] who were the champions in the 2012 Australian Open, but retired in the second round.

In New Haven, she defeated seeded 33rd Austrian Tamira Paszek, but suffered a 1–6, 6–0, 3–6 loss to 11th seed Marion Bartoli.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org