Baseline Awards: Comeback player of the year

In the first six months of 2016, Sloane Stephens captured three titles in what was shaping up to be a career-best campaign.

Then a foot injury halted that progress and kept her out of action for nearly a year. After a long rehab stint and some time doing broadcast work for the Tennis Channel, Stephens made her 2017 debut at Wimbledon.

After that was the summer hard-court stretch and over the course of three tournaments, she improved her ranking more than 850 spots. Stephens entered the US Open ranked No. 83 and proceeded to play the gutsiest tennis of her life.

On her way to the final, she defeated four seeded players, including Venus Williams in the semifinals in one of the year’s best matches.

In the championship match, she faced another player who had been on the comeback trail in 2017, fellow American Madison Keys. Stephens defeated her friend in straight sets to capture the first Grand Slam title of her career.

Even though she didn’t win another match for the rest of the year, she ended the season two spots off her personal-best ranking of No. 13.

A place in the Top 10 appears to be an attainable goal, and judging by her run through the US Open, you would have to be hard-pressed to bet against her.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias