The American talks about her new relationship with Sven Groenevel and how it's just what she needed.
Sloane Stephens is thrilled to not be coachless anymore.
The No.7 seed talked to reporters for 15 minutes on Saturday in Paris, telling them that she has been in Paris a little bit longer than expected thanks to her second-round loss to Johanna Konta in Rome last week.
“I have been practicing,” she told reporters. “This is the longest I have been at a slam ever. It's been actually quite nice. Got a lot of shopping done, got to hang out.”
She later added: “I mean, yeah, I like—being in Paris extra is not—who's complaining? Definitely not me.”
Another thing that the 2018 Roland Garros runner-up is not complaining about is having a coach. She hired Sven Groeneveld, former coach of Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Monica Seles and many others, and is happy to have structure and planning playing a critical role in her life.
“I'm not gonna lie,” Stephens said of the three month period between parting ways with Kamau Murray and hiring Groeneveld. “It sucked. It was not enjoyable. A lot of the time it was—I mean, it was just all over the show. We don't need to go back there. We are totally moving forward.”
Media day at @rolandgarros has a pretty nice view 🌿🌺😍 pic.twitter.com/vltTIIugFe
— Sloane Stephens (@SloaneStephens) May 24, 2019
Some players that co coachless seem to really relish the experience as a chance to step of the treadmill and relax about things, but Stephens seems to have missed the professional guidance of a world class coach, and she’s not shy about admitting that.
“It just wasn't as fun,” she said “I wasn't having fun on the court. Just a lot of things were not where they should have been, and I think now with Sven having some structure and having someone who is, ‘This is what we are trying to get, this is what we need to do,’ like, everything is in order. … In my life, I think that's just what I needed at that moment, and he's been great so far.”
Stephens will open her eighth career Roland Garros appearance with a first-round tilt against Misaki Doi of Japan. The American is slated to face Elina Svitolina in the round of 16 and could potentially face Kiki Bertens in what would be a blockbuster quarter-final if the seeds hold.
It seems that she is approaching the tournament with renewed confidence and vigor. At 26, there is still lots to accomplish for Stephens.
“I think for myself there is only a few things in tennis that I really, really, really wanted to do, and I'm kind of just putting my mind to it now so I can get there and do it, and I can leave the game how I want to on my terms,” she said, before adding with a smile: “I'm not leaving the game any time soon, don't worry…”
