Quote of the Day: A happier Sloane Stephens sends a message with huge post-match celebration

It’s safe to say that Sloane Stephens is enjoying herself in Melbourne, having recorded her best Australian Open result in years with a run to the third round.

The American, a 2013 semifinalist Down Under, defeated Aussie wild card Olivia Gadecki in straight sets and then sent No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina packing on Thursday with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 upset. After battling for two hours and minutes against the Russian on John Caine Arena, Stephens let out a huge roar in celebration as she reached the third round for the first time since 2019.

“I think just having a long off-season, having to fight through a lot, and just happy to be out here, happy to be playing, happy to be competing and playing the tennis that feels good to me,” she revealed during her post-match press conference.

“I think that is the most important, so I think there's a lot of emotion behind that. I think now it's just coming out a little bit more.” (Watch video above)

But when journalists in Melbourne pressed the 30-year-old to open up a bit more on her big show of emotion, she quickly turned their words back on them:

Q: How is the emotion different than usual?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Well, normally you guys just talk shit about me and say how ‘flat’ I am and ‘unhappy’ I look on the court. This is the opposite of that. So whatever emotion you want to get from that...

Yeah, just happy to be out there fighting for every point. Whatever comes out, comes out.

Q: An intentional effort to be less flat?

SLOANE STEPHENS: No. Just enjoying myself more.

One thing Stephens did speak at length about during her post-match press conference is her previous role on the WTA Player Council and her vision for the women’s tour. The American pondered how to grow the game, the WTA’s deal with CVC and issues important to players including a paid maternity leave scheme and improving marketing efforts.

“I think there's a lot of work to be done… We have Hologic, which is our great sponsor, our first title sponsor in I think 15 years or something, doing wellness checks, health checks. All of that stuff really matters,” she explained.

“I think there's a lot of good movement being made. It just takes time. Obviously with a big organization, things don't happen overnight. I think that's why a lot of the players are frustrated.”

Tensions between WTA players and tour leadership seemed to hit a breaking point at the WTA Finals in Cancun, where players frequently vented to press and the fallout prompted a wave of new changes to the tour. The biggest being the reportedly unrelated departures of CEO Steve Simon and President Micky Lawler which were announced less than two months later, as well as scheduling changes to curb late match finishes and increased prize money—but there’s more work still to be done.

“At the end of last year just with a lot of complaints and a lot of outwardly aggressive comments towards the tour, I think a lot were unnecessary just because they don't really see the behind-the-scenes work that's happening,” Stephens said.

Stephens, in the meantime, was happy to hand the reins over to another set of players as the likes of Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Garcia, Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Donna Vekic were elected to serve on the 2024 WTA Player Council.

At the Australian Open, the current world No. 44 will face Anna Kalinskaya, ranked No. 75, in the third round.