In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the “29 Black Stories in 29 Days” series. We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports administrators continue to face as the nation reckons on race following the killing of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.
If you want to understand one of the places where Sloane Stephens gained her desire to help others, look no further than her grandparents, Doc and Glo.
Her grandfather, Dr. Noel Smith, immigrated from Trinidad to study medicine at Howard University. Her grandmother Glo served as president of the National Council of Negro Women. The organization, founded by Mary McLeod Bethune, was dedicated to improving the lives of black women.
Both grandfathers believed in giving back to the community that gave them and they did. He was an obstetrician-gynecologist. Her grandmother was very involved in their community. They both taught her to help when she can, and it's a message Stevens carries with her today.
“I want to leave a legacy in tennis, but I want to do more,” Stevens said in an interview with USA Today Sports. “I want to do more than just say, ‘I play tennis.’”
For the third year in a row, Stephens is partnering with Bold.com for a $30,000 Sloane Stephens Doc & Glo Grant. It is for students studying medicine or attending an HBCU.
Stevens entered the sport's big stage after defeating Serena Williams in the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2013. She won the US Open in 2017.
On “Cine Sessions with Sloane Stephens” she said that if she won another Grand Slam event, she would retire from tennis.
“There's more, I feel like there's more,” Stevens says in the show. “But let me tell you this, if I win a Grand Slam title, I'll never play tennis again. It will be my last, and I'll say: 'I'll never see you guys, I'm out.'
I asked her was she joking?
“Oh no, I was serious,” she said.
“Obviously I'm getting older. I'm 30,” she said. He added, “Do I think I will win the French Open? I don't know. Is that possible? Maybe. But I think I have a lot of tennis (on the left) and I think that's a good thing.” The goal (to win another Grand Slam event).
“I always say it's nice to have something to look forward to. So, yeah, I think it would obviously be a great achievement if I did that. It would be nice to finish well.”
Stephens has already hit that note by following in Doc and Glo's footsteps.
