US OPEN

September 1, 2021

Sloane Stephens

Press Conference

S. STEPHENS/C. Gauff

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Could you just give us your thoughts on tonight's match.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I thought today obviously was a good opportunity to go out and play some good tennis. We know that Coco is a great player. I was looking forward to a good match.

I thought that we both played well. There was times that I took my chances. I think they paid off well. I just really executed well tonight my game plan and was happy to get the win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Did you feel this one coming, this kind of performance?

SLOANE STEPHENS: No. Honestly, I've just been taking every day day by day. I've been playing a lot better, going in the right direction.

Obviously it's tough when you're unseeded. You have tough first rounds. It's harder to work your way into a tournament. So I think now I'm at the point where I'm able to be really competitive at the beginning of the tournaments, playing against top players.

Yeah, obviously coming out of the pandemic, it was rocky road. I think for everyone it hasn't been too consistent for anyone. I think you've just got to ride the wave. Yeah, it's kind of coming together, which is nice.

Q. You had a very good serving night. 84% first serves in.

SLOANE STEPHENS: I love that (smiling).

Q. A very high percentage.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I mean, that wasn't the goal. That wasn't what I was trying to do, go out there and execute. I knew I wanted to place a lot of first serves and get myself started early in the points.

Serving that high percentage for me is always really key just because I can get into the points and I can start off aggressive with me dictating play, which is what I want to do.

Yeah, that was just part of it. But happy and very pleased with that stat.

Q. You have now big wins over two very high-quality opponents. What is your confidence like going into the third round?

SLOANE STEPHENS: It's good. I mean, obviously I've had to battle two good friends. I think the pressure is a little bit different when you play two people that you know well. It's a different type of pressure. Obviously playing here at the US Open and playing Americans, it's very different.

But I'm really happy with the two wins. I played good tennis to get them. Yeah, I mean, it's still only the third round of a slam so I have to keep going. But it's nice to know that I was able to get those two wins with all the pressure and outer things happening.

Q. You alluded to your draw as an unseeded player. You could be facing Angie Kerber next. You have a good history against her. What has been the key to your success? What do you look forward to if you do play her?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Well, who does she play?

Q. She plays this evening.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Against who?

Q. I'm not good at the pronunciation.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Oh, Lord.

Well, Angie and I have always had really good matches. I mean, I look forward to playing her every time. We've had very competitive matches at big stages in my career. Yeah, if she wins, I would look forward to playing her.

Q. Following Coco's progress, what was it like to face her psychologically?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, it's definitely different. We haven't even really practiced, I'd say, like on tour. So it's been a little bit like I've seen her grow up and play obviously since she was really young. I think the last time we hit, she was probably like 12. It was a little bit different.

I don't know why, we just never really have practiced on tour. I wasn't too familiar. Obviously I've seen her play. I know her game well. We trained with the same coach for a long time. We kind of have similar, like, things that we do, which is interesting.

But as her game has evolved... Obviously she's only 17, so she has a long ways to go. I think just being able to see it, I feel old. She was, like, at my 21st birthday. I'm now 28. I'm really old, so...

It's just been really nice to see her game kind of evolve and the things that she's doing, like how she's able to turn so much defense into offense and kind of do those movements. She is great at the net. She has a really great all-around game. It's been really nice to see.

She's different from a lot of the up-and-coming players we're seeing now that are just super hard hitting, not much variety. She has a lot of variety. I think a lot of the younger girls, there's half that are very hard hitting and half that have a lot of variety. I think she's in the bucket with a lot of variety.

Q. Do you remember where you played with her when she was 12?

SLOANE STEPHENS: We were at South County Park in Boca Raton, if you must know.

Q. (Question about Andy Murray's tweet.)

SLOANE STEPHENS: I honestly just thought Andy's tweet was really funny. I didn't see exactly what happened. I'm not sure. I just thought it was hilarious. We all are like huge Andy fans. We love him.

But I do think -- I can't speak for what happened in that match, but I do know on the girl's side, there still is a lot of that. It's gamesmanship. I think there definitely needs to be a rule or changes. They make a lot of rule changes for smaller things, like they took one minute off the warmup. If someone goes to the bathroom for nine minutes, no one says anything. There's, like, so many little things that can be changed and looked at. I think that hasn't been done.

I think now that there is a lot of talk about it, people come into press, people tweet about it, whatever, maybe it will get a little bit more attention, that gamesmanship will kind of maybe turn and change a little bit.

Q. Hard cap on the time or...

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, like I don't think you should be gone from the court for, like, I don't know. Six, eight minutes is a long time to leave a match. That changes the whole momentum of a match. If you're changing your clothes, what are you changing? What are you doing in there?

Again, I think there was a rule a couple years ago where girls could only -- it was like a three-minute rule or something in the bathroom. If you ever changed out of a wet sports bra, which I don't think you have, you wouldn't know how difficult that is. But that is maybe like a five-minute. When you get into six, seven, eight, nine minutes, okay, what are you doing in there? Do you need help? I can come help you. Like, what's happening?

I think that's more where the issues are because it just becomes pure gamesmanship.

Q. When you walk in the stadium, is there a little bit of magic still? Do you feel that still is your court?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, it's so fun in there. I love it in there. Today it was super loud. I've never experienced that before. I feel like whenever I play in there, even when I warm up in there, I've had almost all of my practices in there, and I just love the court. Like I love being out there.

Yeah, it's like a good place, it's a happy place. I think I've had a lot of good memories there. Obviously I have had a lot of good memories there. For me, it's a feel-good. I think being in this position, trying to work my way through the tournament, have tough matches, like it's nice to have that comfort, those moments to look back on. Okay, I'm comfortable here, I'm happy here.