In 2021, after making an exit from the US Open at the hands of Germany’s Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens revealed that she had received “2,000-plus messages of abuse/anger” from people who were upset by the result. Stephens even posted some of those messages on her IG story and said, “I am human. It’s so hard to read messages like these. This type of hate is so exhausting and never-ending.” Online abuse is something that Stephens has had to deal with throughout her career. Now, she has again spoken about the crazy texts she receives after her matches regularly.

After several incidents of players facing online abuse, the WTA has made players’ safety its “number one priority.” In 2023, Roland Garros also made an announcement saying players would have their social media content moderated by an anti-online harassment and hate speech tool. But it hasn’t reduced significantly.

Stephens recently appeared on the She’s So Lucky podcast with Les Alfred on April 15, where she shared her thoughts on how challenging it has been for her to handle the pressure around her. “The tennis journey is a…it’s a very emotional roller coaster. As a pro, I’ve always just been like, focus on controlling the controllables on the court. Figuring out the three things that I really need to do that day, and like focus on that,” she said.

In the same podcast, she also spoke about how some of the fans used to drop horrible messages in her inbox after her matches. “I had so many crazy messages after the match that I was like ‘On we shouldn’t do a birthday post cuz i’s going to be like all the comments are just going to be like crazy betters or whatever,‘” the 32-year-old added.

Stephens further continued, “So, it’s like hard to manage, but I think that again my personality and like feeling good about who you are on the inside, no matter what it looks like on social media. Like, social media is not real life, like again, that’s not real personality. It’s like you can see my life, you can see my photos, you can see like what I’m doing, but like ‘I don’t like your joy or your happiness maybe.”

Stephens believes it’s hard for people on social media to know what she’s going through as a person because she is “very guarded.” In March 2023, she revealed that she has a lot of keywords banned on IG as well. While online abuse has always been an issue for Stephens, with time, she has now perhaps learned ways to tackle all that in her own way.

Talking about her career, Stephens has struggled a bit with her performances in the last few years. The last time she won a singles match was in June 2024 in the first round of Wimbledon. This season, she has already played four tournaments, but she’s yet to win a match in the singles. When can we see her back in action?

Sloane Stephens hints about a return at the 2025 French Open

Last year, during an interview, Sloane Stephens revealed that the 2025 season would be important for just the “longevity” of her career. However, she also mentioned that she didn’t know how much longer she was going to play.

Stephens was last seen in action at the 2025 Merida Open, where she lost in the first round to Petra Martic. She was expected to make a comeback at the Indian Wells as a wild card entrant, but was forced to withdraw from that tournament due to an injury.

Recently, Stephens shared a carousel of images on her IG account highlighting her off-court endeavors with the caption, “Life lately 🌸.” Responding to that post, her husband, an American soccer star, Jozy Altidore, dropped a comment saying, “So fine 😘.” Then on the same day, she made a surprise appearance at the Tennis Channel, where she indulged in an interview alongside her compatriot, Ben Shelton.

During that interaction, Shelton asked her if she was ready to make a return to competitive tennis. “Me? Honestly, I have no idea. I just got my boot off last week, but tell your dad I miss him because I love seeing him on TV. I don’t know, I’ll see you soon, I’ll definitely see you at the French,“ Stephens said in response.

The former world number 3 will need a wildcard entry, or she might have to go through qualifying if she intends to take part in the 2025 French Open, since she’s currently ranked 158th in the world. Do you think we can see vintage Stephens at this year’s French Open? Not to forget she reached the final there in 2018. Are you backing her to make a deep run this time around if she participates? Share your thoughts in the comments below.