Serena and Venus Williams have been keeping the flag of American tennis sky-high for a couple of decades. Fortunately, new African-American players like Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Taylor Townsend, and Sloane Stephens are there to take over from the 2 tennis legends.
This is what Sloane Stephens said during a recent interview also stressing how nice was that moment of Naomi Osaka honoring Coco Gauff on court at the US Open. Sloane commented:
“I think being in a position that there are more African-American girls playing and younger girls. It’s not just Venus and Serena anymore. Osaka, Maddy, myself, Coco, Taylor Townsend, there are so many girls that are actually playing. I think it’s very powerful and inspiring just because there are not that many women in our sport.”
Sloane won the Us open back in 2017, and she reached a world no.3 career-high. The American is well-known for struggling with finding continuity week-in week-out. However, if she is dialed-in in a given tournament, she can beat anyone.
Stephens is enjoying a rather nice offseason with her fiance Jozy Altidore training hard together.
Naomi Osaka’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.3, Osaka played her last match on the 27th of October when she beat Petra Kvitova 7-61 4-6 6-4 in the round robin in Shenzhen.
This year Osaka has a 40-11 win-loss record. The Japanese has won 3 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open, in Osaka and in Beijing.
Cori Gauff’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.68 (career-high), Gauff played her last match on the 16th of October when she lost to Anna Blinkova 6-4 6-0 in the 1st round in Luxembourg.
This year the American has a 18-8 win-loss record. The American won her maiden career title in Linz.
Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff played each other 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Osaka.
The last time that they fought against each other, Naomi Osaka won 6-3 6-0 in the 3rd round in New York (U.S. Open) on the 31st of August 2019.
Here the highlights.
Serena Williams’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.10, Serena Williams played her last match on the 7th of September when she had to bow to Bianca Vanessa Andreescu 6-3 7-5 in the final in U.S. Open.
Serena Williams’s best performance of this year was reaching the final in Wimbledon, Toronto and at the U.S. Open.
Sloane Stephens’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.25, Sloane played her last match on the 1st of October when she lost to Saisai Zheng 6-3 6-1 in the 2nd round in Beijing.
Sloane Stephens’s best performance of the present season was getting to the semi-finals in Madrid.
Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens played each other 6 times. The head to head is 5-1 for Williams.
The last time that they squared off, Naomi Osaka won 1-6 7-5 6-3 in the 4th round of the Paris (French Open) in June 2015.
