American teenager Sloane Stephens, who has reached the fourth round of a major for the first time at Roland Garros, says her lack of maturity was the reason for her slow start to the clay-court season. Stephens has picked up her pace recently, qualifying for Estoril and Rome, and reaching the semifinals of Strasbourg the week before the French Open. She said she was drinking too much soda and eating too much candy, among other things.
"If you only knew what was happening three-and-a-half weeks ago, I mean, the only way to go was up," the 19-year-old said. "So my mom came and my aunt came, and that helped me a lot, because I don't know what was going on. I was having brain farts and things weren't going my way. I was being 19, and I think now I am being 29. So I think my mom and aunt definitely helped me through the last couple of weeks. I'm very grateful for that."