Even the ones with the most Grand Slam titles have played for about 20 years (Novak Djokovic– 20 years and Margaret Court– 17 years). Djokovic is now 36 and even if he continues to play for another 5 years, there would still remain a lot of time for him to indulge in different things. This leads to a question, what’s next after tennis? Well, the 30-year-old American tennis player Sloane Stephens already has an answer to this question.

Sports was never a number one priority for Stephens. She always believed her tennis career would end at some point in time and then one has to live for 60 more years. Sportspersons have the most unpredictable history of career spans. Some retire in their 20s after battling with injuries while others drag it to their 40s. So, proper future planning is very crucial for every player. Here’s what Sloane Stephens reveals about her number one priority.

Sloane Stephens puts light on the importance of education

Sports runs in Stephens’ blood. Her athletic parents introduced her to the racket sport at the age of 9. Since then she has worked through to get her best career ranking of number 3 after the Wimbledon 2018. She won the US Open in 2017 and has 7 WTA singles titles in her bag. However, the American has always set her priorities in life off the court. Recently she made some brutally honest admissions in the WTA YouTube channel.

Sloane Stephens said, “Education has always been number one before sports. And getting my degree and then my master’s degree was really important to me right. Then to be able to show my grandparents like okay, I got my master’s degree. It was like- yeah, everyone’s happy. Like it was a great thing. Even if I stopped playing tennis at 25 or 30 whatever.” She then went on to talk about the perks of this approach. 

Stephens continued, “It is like I always knew where I wanted to be and where I wanted to go. And I think that’s because of my grandparents instilled that in my mom. My mom was like okay, like this is what I did so this is what you need to do. I know at some point tennis will be over right and then I have to live 60 more years live. Hopefully, 70 more years to live. Knowing that I was like, okay I need to be set for this time.” 

Sloane Stephens always had that goal of giving back to society even before she found her way to the higher stages of the game. She launched the ‘Sloane Stephens Foundation’ in 2013 when she was only 20 years old. The goal of her initiative was to assist in developing a constructive future for the kids by providing educational opportunities, proper nutrition, and encouraging a healthy lifestyle. She’s equally active in her off-court life as she is in her on court.

READ MORE: ‘He Delivered 40,000 Babies’ – Family Member’s Unparalleled Work Ethic Emerges as the Biggest Motivation for Sloane Stephens as Unveiled in an Endearing Confession

Sloane Stephens had a disappointing run this season

Sloane Stephens was last active in WTA tournaments during September where she took part in Guadalajara Open. Then recently she featured in the playoff win for the USA against Switzerland in the Billie Jean King Cup in Seville. However, the Czech Republic eventually eliminated the USA in the next round. Now what’s next for Stephens?

The only positive result for her this season was her win at L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo tournament. She had failed to defend her Guadalajara title this season. She’s currently ranked at 47 and has failed to make an impact on the Grand Slam tournament this year.

The former US Open winner would like to kick-start her season in style at Hobert International next year. Do you think she can climb up the stairs next season and bring back her glorious days?

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