With an ex-NFL star and former swimmer for parents, Sloane Stephens was always destined to follow in the family footsteps and carve out a sporting career of her own.
Yet while her half-brother John Stephens Jr emulated their father by venturing into football, and the rest of the family took a strong liking to golf, after trying out soccer, basketball, dance and ballet, Sloane found her true calling on the tennis court.
‘I was the one weird kid who picked a completely different sport,’ she jokes.
At the age of 15, six years after picking up a racket for the first time, Stephens was suddenly faced with the choice of turning professional or going to school at UCLA.
Her family – which included late dad John, once a running back for the New England Patriots, and mom Sybil Smith, the first African-American female swimmer in history to be named a first-team Division I All-American – urged her to follow her dream and opt for the former, advice which ultimately paid dividends.
‘That decision changed my entire life and changed the trajectory of many people’s lives through the foundation,’ the former US Open champion insists.
Sloane Stephens has enjoyed success both on and off the tennis court over the past decade
The former US Open champion is working this year’s tournament as a broadcaster due to injury
Not only did she go on to capture a Grand Slam, with her triumph at the 2017 US Open proving the undoubted pinnacle of her tennis career, but Stephens has enjoyed even more admirable success away from the court through The Sloane Stephens Foundation.
Since launching in 2013, the Florida-born star’s foundation has used tennis and a wide-range of sports to provide enhanced educational opportunities, encouraging healthy, active lifestyles and help shape constructive futures for children in disadvantaged communities.
After continuing to grow over the past 12 years The Sloane Stephens Foundation now services an estimated 15,000 kids per year, with the program also employing full-time counsellors and therapists to offer mental support.
‘Our goal is to service our community and provide them with the resources through tennis and education to help them thrive at life, and to provide them with things that they wouldn’t necessarily have or be able to experience,’ Stephens explains.
‘So being able to show them a new way of life, whether that’s through sports, academics, e-sports, swimming… whatever it is. Whether they lose interest in tennis and they want to play soccer or whatever, we keep them in the program so that they feel like they have the resources necessary to survive and thrive.’
So while in the early stages of her tennis career, what provided the inspiration for Stephens to get the foundation up and running?
She has transformed lives of thousands of children through her Sloane Stephens Foundation
The 32-year-old credits her uncle Roland Smith, who now works as an executive director with the foundation, for giving her the idea after showing an interest in charity work beforehand.
‘My uncle was like, “You should just start your own foundation and that way you can work out what avenues you want to take, whether that’s helping kids, whether that’s helping animals… whatever it is.”
‘Giving back has always been at the core of that and the root of that. I’ve really found my stride and my passion with the kids and helping them and developing a community.
‘Being able to really figure out what I love through the foundation has been really fun.’
Last month Stephens was duly rewarded for over a decade of commendable work through her foundation at the ESPYs (Excellence in Sport Performance Yearly), where she received the prestigious Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award.
And Lonnie Ali, widow of the boxing legend, presenting her with the honor was the ‘most special part’ of the evening, the tennis veteran explains.
Stephens received the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award last month, with the boxing legend’s widow Lonnie presenting her with the honor
The American tennis star has spent the majority of 2025 on the sidelines with a foot injury
‘She has carried on Muhammad’s legacy since he passed on and she’s the closest that we will get to him,’ Sloane says about Lonnie. ‘At the ceremony when she said she wishes that he was here to see this, that was the most impactful and touching moment of my ESPYs week.’
Stephens has been out of action for the majority of 2025 after withdrawing from Indian Wells back in March with a foot injury. After failing to return in time for the French Open and Wimbledon, she is also sitting out the US Open and aims to head into the 2026 season in full health and with a revitalized mindset.
‘I think a break is good for me,’ she says. ‘Tennis is very tough, it’s very hard, it’s very isolating and draining. But I think once you get a break and you can reset and refresh yourself, this has been a really great break for me.
‘I’ve been able to relax but still stay in the game with commentating at the French Open. I’m still around the game and I still love it and I still practice everyday, so I’m still in it but I’m just not feeling the stress and the pressure of traveling and competing day in and day out.
‘So hopefully when I do start playing again, things are all bubbly and roses and sunshine when I come back.’
Stephens, the wife of former USA soccer player Jozy Altidore, was speaking to DailyMail.com on behalf of the ‘WAGS in Wags’ program: a content-forward lifestyle campaign celebrating the intersection of iconic vehicles and iconic women – featuring the premium Wagoneer lineup alongside wives and girlfriends of superstar athletes.
Stephens was speaking to DailyMail.com on behalf of the ‘WAGS in Wags’ program
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