Sloane Stephens believes the ATP and WTA Tours harm players by pressurizing them to go to tournaments, even when they have mental or physical issues.
Stephens has not played in over a month, and it seems like her 2024 season might be over. The American had been struggling for a while, winning just two matches in the previous three months before taking a break.
That spell of difficult results included losing in the US Open first-round against Clara Burel despite being 6-0, 4-1 in that match. The crowd on Arthur Ashe was left stunned after she lost from that position.
Stephens' unfortunate collapse in the match was a far cry from the outstanding tennis that saw the 31-year-old win the 2017 US Open after beating close friend Madison Keys in the final.
2024 had been going well for Stephens. She won the Rouen Open on clay in April and followed that with two victories at the Madrid Open. Her bad run after that was sudden and unexpected.
Although Stephens does care about defeats, she does not let bad times overwhelm her. That probably explains why the former Grand Slam champion has no regrets about not becoming world No. 1.
Stephens is also one of the most well-spoken individuals in tennis and gave some interesting thoughts about how players are treated while appearing on the Tennis Insider Club, a podcast founded by Caroline Garcia.
Players on the ATP and WTA Tours have become increasingly vocal about issues like the length of the calendar and the number of mandatory tournaments. Iga Swiatek's penalty for not playing six WTA-500 tournaments saw her lose the No. 1 ranking this week.
Stephens is critical of the ATP and WTA for making players feel they must play at tournaments because of possible punishments for not doing so, outlining her views on Garcia's podcast.
"I feel like that is one of the bad things about both tours, ATP and WTA, is that you are forced to play even when you are probably not in the best mental capacity or physical shape, or you might be injured and you just arrive because that’s what you are supposed to do."
"You are just there because you don’t want to pay the fine, or you’re supposed to be, you entered the tournament and you don’t want to have any more withdrawals. You are like I’m present but mentally I’m not here."
The American said she never tried to stick things out when not feeling in the right place to compete, although doing that is more difficult for lower-ranked players who need to play to pay their bills.
"I never pushed myself to be like 'I am going to stick it out for another three weeks just because I need my ranking.' I feel like a lot of players just do that in general... That has probably set people back more than anything, not having the freedom or the independence to make this decision."
What Stephens describes can be detrimental to the players as human beings, and the ATP and WTA should take her concerns seriously.