"I would love to work for Tennis Channel after I finish playing tennis—hopefully that's a long time from now" Stephens said. "...I was in a very sad place in my life. I had a big boot on and a huge walking thing, and it was just not fun. They made it a really good time for me. It was actually the highlight of my year so far."
Stephens was happy to return to the site of her first WTA title. Halep, on the other hand, actually wanted to be in Stanford this week, which awards the winner 190 more points than D.C.
“I chose this tournament because I asked for a wild card in Stanford and Washington, and Stanford said no and Washington said yes,” Halep said. “So I'm really happy I received this wild card.”
Competing in D.C. for the first time ever, Halep has made some local Romanian fans very happy.
"It's nice to have Romanians in the stands and cheering for you," Halep said. "It feels like I have support everywhere I'm going, so it's nice that it's in Washington, too."
It won’t surprise anyone to hear that Stephens made a lot more unforced errors than the rock-steady Halep, piling up 48 to Halep’s 23 in the 7-6 (3), 6-0 loss. Neither player produced winners in the double digits.
"To make errors that I normally wouldn't make—even though I haven't played in a year—is still very frustrating," Stephens said. "I think it's more: Why did I miss that shot or why did I double fault? I don't double fault that much. Just little stuff. It's hard coming back. You don't really know what to expect from yourself."
To her credit, Stephens stayed with Halep throughout the first set, but just when she needed stability most, she would throw in a double fault or a wild forehand error. After almost a full year away, the 24-year-old is understandably rusty.
"I'm happy to be back, and just hopefully I'm going to work my way back to where I was before," Stephens said.
Halep has her sights set on repeating, or even surpassing, her past performances in the U.S. Open Series. Last year, she won in Montreal, reached the semifinals in Cincinnati and made the quarterfinals in New York. Meanwhile, Stephens is just focused on getting her first win.
"I just have to play a lot of matches," Stephens said. "I don't know exactly how long it's going to take me, but eventually I will beat someone."