First Grand Slam title for Sloane Stephens
Updated | By AFP
Sloane Stephens captured her first Grand Slam title by routing fellow American Madison Keys 6-3, 6-0 in Saturday's US Open final.
Stephens, who was sidelined for 11 months by a left foot injury until returning in July, took a $3.7 million top prize from the biggest victory of her career.
With the 15th victory in her past 17 matches, Stephens became only the fifth unseeded player to win a women's Slam title, although Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko managed the feat at this year's French Open.
The only prior unseeded US Open women's champion was Kim Clijsters, who came back from retirement to take the 2009 title.
Stephens made only six unforced errors in the match to 30 for Keys, who had 18 winners to 10 for the champion.
Keys, seeded 15th, and 83rd-ranked Stephens each fought off injuries to reach the title showdown.
Stephens returned at Wimbledon and slid to 957th in world rankings before semi-final runs at US Open tuneups in Toronto and Cincinnati, while Keys underwent her second left wrist surgery after the French Open and won a tuneup title at Stanford.
Stephens will jump to 17th in Monday's world rankings while Keys, who took hom $1.825 million as runner-up, will rise to 12th.
Show's Stories
-
Back-to-school nails that you cannot wear to school
When you nail a design you won't get an 'A' for...
The Workzone with Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp an hour ago -
Plants that help keep flies and mosquitoes away
Here are some great options if you want to keep the flies and mosquitoes...
The Workzone with Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp an hour ago