Mary Joe Fernandez and Brad Gilbert both said that Sloane Stephens has improved her level over the past month at Indian Wells and Miami. The ESPN broadcasters see an improvement in Stephens' on-court competitiveness, saying the American has now come out of her shell.
Stephens, who is currently ranked No. 45, had very few decent results after reaching the fourth round of last year's French Open, but she looked confident again reaching the fourth round at Indian Wells and the quarterfinals at Miami.
"I feel like her intensity is higher," said Fernandez, who is also the U.S. Fed Cup captain. "I feel that she is using her great athletic ability to defend, but she's also looking to use her forehand, and that's her big weapon. So it just looks like it's all coming back together, like she's playing the right way for her game, she's playing to her strengths a little bit more consistently, and she seems much more engaged point to point... Going into the clay-court season, I think that's one of her best surfaces, and I think we're going to see Sloane do really well."
Stephens fell to Simona Halep in the fourth round of Roland Garros, and the Romanian bested her once again in Miami on Wednesday, 6-1, 7-5.
Gilbert added, "[Stephens] seems to really have her game, energy, some fist pumping, and [she's] enjoying to be out there. I think a big thing for her is that Nick Saviano, who did a great job last year coaching Genie Bouchard, and I know has worked in the past with Sloane when she was a teenager, now is traveling, I believe, with her full-time."