dōTERRA ® PERFORMANCE ADVOCATE
SLOANE STEPHENS
dōTERRA ® Performance Advocate Sloane Stephens is a professional tennis player on the Women’ s Tennis Association( WTA) tour, known for winning the 2017 US Open. From homeschooling her way through high school to overcoming a serious injury, Stephens has allowed her positive attitude and passion for tennis to carry her through anything that life or the sport throws at her.
“ To win the US Open after being injured and having to go through surgery and rehab and all of the not fun stuff that goes into coming back from an injury, it was a major triumph— something that I’ ve wanted to do my whole life.”
How did you first get involved with playing tennis?
I grew up across the street from a club that had tennis, and I started playing there in the summers at a young age. I had no idea whether or not I was going to be any good at it, but it was really fun— my very first coach made it really fun. As I got older, I started playing after school, and eventually my mom thought that we should move to Florida so I could play more tennis.
After we moved to Florida, I started playing even more, I got into tournaments, and I started winning. I decided to do homeschool so that I could go pro at age 16. It was a nice transition, never anything too stressful. I started playing lower-rank tournaments and just worked my way up to the WTAs. I kind of paid my dues with the younger folks and moved my way up, and that’ s how I got started in professional tennis.
What do you love most about the game of tennis? I love to compete. I’ m a very competitive person. I’ m the girl that races my mom and brother back to the car saying,“ Last one there is a rotten egg!” I’ ve never played a team sport so I don’ t know what that is like, but with tennis, you are out there all by yourself— you have to act for yourself, think for yourself, and you have to do everything alone. I actually like that, I like competing against an opponent where you don’ t know what is going to happen. It is so unpredictable, I think that is what I love the most about tennis.
What would you say your strength is on the court? I would say my greatest strength and my greatest weakness is probably my mind. When I make plays and
22 / SUMMER 2018 LIVING MAGAZINE