Can past US Open champions Sloane Stephens and Bianca Andreescu recapture their magic?

MATCH POINT: Despite losing first set 6-1, Sloane Stephens closes out Lauren Davis in Cleveland

When thinking about dangerous floaters at the upcoming US Open, a pair of past champions invariably come to mind: Sloane Stephens, who won the title in 2017, and Bianca Andreescu, who took it two years later.

Currently, Stephens is ranked 38th, and Andreescu 51st. Both were given wild cards into last week’s WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati. But while Andreescu withdrew due to a back injury, Stephens played fine tennis. Following an opening round win over 30th-ranked Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Stephens upset the title holder, Caroline Garcia, and then competed well before losing 7-5, 6-3 to reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Stephens turned 30 this year. On New Year’s Day 2022, she married soccer player Jozy Altidore. Stephens is also on the WTA Player Council and devotes extensive time to running her foundation. Earlier this month at the WTA 1000 in Montreal, Stephens was beaten in the round of 16 by 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

When Sloane’s forehand is in full flight, it’s one of the two or three best in the sport. Pam Shriver

The 23-year-old Andreescu has continually grappled with injuries. The latest: a back issue—sacroiliac joint pain—which surfaced three weeks ago in Washington, D.C. and continued in Montreal, where she lost in the first round to qualifier Camila Giorgi, 6-3, 6-2.

“The game has changed a lot,” says Nick Saviano, the longstanding coach worked extensively with Stephens during her formative years and also as a pro. “The overall athleticism, in everything. Players are better trained than they used to be—bigger, stronger, faster.”

But even amid those ongoing shifts, Stephens and Andreescu each have plenty of weapons that remain viable. According to Tennis Channel commentator Pam Shriver, “When Sloane’s forehand is in full flight, it’s one of the two or three best in the sport.” Add to that a superb backhand, first-rate movement, great touch, and excellent transition skills.

“She’s capable of playing at the highest levels,” says Saviano.

In 2013, at the age of 19, Stephens upset Serena Williams at the Australian Open on her way to the semifinals. Such early excellence also generated a challenge.

“She carried the burden of everyone telling her what a phenomenal talent she was and how great she could be,” says Saviano. “She would be the first to say that’s not what you want to overemphasize. Because then the person begins to protect that.”

The way things turned out, Stephens’ finest moment to date came when she was about as low as one can get. Three weeks prior to the 2017 US Open, she was ranked No. 934, the result of a stress fracture in her left foot near the ankle. Amid all that, Stephens’ New York run was one of the biggest surprises in tennis history. In the final, she was completely unfazed by the occasion, routing her good friend, Madison Keys, 6-3, 6-0.

But when it comes to surprises, what Andreescu did two years later at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was also amazing. Ranked 15th at the time, largely due to taking titles at Indian Wells and Toronto, Andreescu then was 19 years old and had never played the main draw at Flushing Meadows. Reaching the final with wins over the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Belinda Bencic, Andreescu faced Serena Williams.

“That was the loudest crowd ever,” said Shriver. “Ashe Stadium was crazy. Bianca had to hold her ears. She showed tremendous mental strength.”

After leading by a set and 5-1, Andreescu withstood a fantastic Williams comeback to eventually close it out, 6-3, 7-5.

Like Stephens, Andreescu’s style dazzled—“She was flamboyant, athletic, powerful and able to mix in different spins,” said Shriver. Ranked 178th at the end of 2018, by Andreescu had soared all the way to No. 4 by the following October.

Then came 2020 and the beginning of many stops and starts. In spring 2021, after retiring late in the Miami final with a right ankle injury, Andreescu tested positive for COVID. In December, feeling tired and burnt out, she decided to take a few months off. This March, at the Miami Open, Andreescu tore two ligaments in her left ankle mid-rally. That injury hindered Andreescu for much of the clay-court season.

But there remain encouraging signs. In the first round of Roland Garros, Andreescu rallied from a set and a break down to upset Victoria Azarenka. At Wimbledon, she strongly tested Ons Jabeur, losing their third round match, 6-4 in the third.

“There are a lot of positives,” Andreescu said following that match.

Says Shriver, “She clearly still wants it.”

Having reached a US Open final as a 16-year-old, Shriver understands the pressures of early success and subsequent expectation: “It’s hard to find that magic again and put the genie back in the bottle,” she says.

Following the win over Azarenka in Paris, Andreescu said, “Sometimes I feel pretty insecure about myself considering coming off a great 2019 and then not really doing anything per se and not living up to the expectations that I put on myself and, you know, everybody else around me. Not necessarily my team, but maybe fans or et cetera, et cetera.”

After 14 months working with veteran coach Sven Groeneveld, Andreescu reunited with Christophe Lambert at the end of last year. The two worked together in Andreescu’s teens. She has also frequently addressed the factors that surround life as a professional tennis player, from the physical and emotional challenges to an appreciation of meditation and various forms of self-awareness. In 2022, Andreescu, working with Mary Beth Leatherdale and illustrator Chelsea O’Bryne, published a picture book titled, Bibi’s Got Game: A Story about Tennis, Meditation and a Dog Named Coco.

“Visualization, meditation, sports medicine, these are all techniques that can help bring us back to more of a flow state,” says Shriver. “The world we’re in now is really unsettling. The stress of the tour and the challenges of COVID all add up to something the world has never faced before.”

She clearly still wants it. Pam Shriver on Bianca Andreescu

For Andreescu, the challenge is to stay healthy. For Stephens, it’s the quest to balance competition with her passions outside the lines. As she said in Paris earlier this year, “I think being on [the] player council has really just opened my eyes to things that aren't being done, and things that are being done really well, and trying to highlight those things—the good things about our tour, right?”

Says Shriver of Stephens, “She’s a leader for women’s tennis. She has a rich, full complicated life. But I have a feeling that deep inside, she still burns with it. I still think she can have a great run at a major.”

"Honestly, there's nothing better than playing in the U.S. in front of an American crowd," Stephens said following her win over Garcia in Cincinnati. One can only imagine how that could well inspire her during the US Open, like it once did.