At the end of a to-and-fro thriller against Leyre Romero Gormaz, Sloane Stephens used her experience to survive and enter the main draw of the French Open. The 2018 French Open runner-up won her final qualifying match on Thursday after losing the first set, winning the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. This comeback for Stephens is even more significant as she missed the competition last year due to injury and entered the qualifiers again after 14 years.

Stephens breezed past Carol Lee of the US and Lisa Pigato of Italy in the first couple of qualifying rounds in straight sets. However, against Gormaz, she faced a difficult challenge, losing her serve twice in the opening set and going down 6-3.

The 33-year-old got an early break in the second set and used that advantage to secure the second set. The opening game of the third set was a massive test for Stephens as she had to fend off five break points to hold her serve. After overcoming that hurdle, she got the break of serve and closed out the set at 6-1. She showed tremendous resilience as she saved 12 of the 14 break points she faced, not getting broken after the first set.

The turnaround was poignant for the 2017 US Open champion Stephens as she could not take part in Roland Garros last year due to a foot fracture, and at that time, any possible comeback looked dubious. However, the American was relieved after her victory, celebrating with the sizeable crowd on the Suzanne Lenglen Court, as shared by prominent tennis journalist, Jose Morgado on X.

A decade after her 2011 debut, Stephens is back in qualifying, a humbling return as an unseeded player. She was not the only former US Open champion in the qualifying draw, as Bianca Andreescu was also making her comeback. However, unlike the American, the Canadian’s journey ended in the second round of qualifying with a loss to Viktoria Hruncakova.

It will be intriguing to see who Stephens faces in the first round of the main draw. If she is up against a seeded player, then it might be a fascinating watch as the American seems to have flashes of the form that took her to the final in 2018.

Sloane Stephens Will Need a Miracle to Repeat 2018 Heroics in Paris

Comeback stories are great narratives in sport. If Stephens must play out of her skin to approach her 2018 level, when she reached the final, it will be a tall order. Frequent foot injuries took their toll on her as she was forced to qualify for the Grand Slams through qualifiers.

Stephens went through qualifiers at the Australian Open as well; it was something she hadn’t done since 2011 at the Australian Open. She won all three matches, including defeating No. 2 qualifying seed Lucia Bronzetti to reach the main draw, but she lost to Karolina Pliskova in the first round.

Since then, she has not won multiple matches at any of the events she has taken part in this year. On the clay, she had early exits in Rouen and Linz, and could not qualify for the main draw in Madrid.

However, Stephens has a 60 percent career win rate on clay, reaching three finals. While she won titles at the 2016 Charleston Open and 2024 Open de Rouen, her most notable clay-court performance came during her runner-up run at the 2018 French Open.

She was the 10th seed back then in Paris, beating the likes of Arantxa Rus, Magdalena Fręch, Camila Giorgi, and Anna Kontaveit to reach the quarterfinals. She won against Daria Kasatkina and Madison Keys in the quarterfinals and the semifinals, respectively, but fell short against the top seed, Simona Halep, in a three-set battle.

Stephens is no longer in such form and no longer has a seeding, which would have given her a chance to work her way through the draw. But there is some hope for her.

She dealt with a significant injury to her left foot in 2016. It required surgery and a long rehab. The American marked her official return to form a year later, when she won the 2017 US Open.

Given that it is on clay where the game style is not serve-dependent, Stephens will have a better chance even if she has to start her campaign against one of the top-seeded players.