Ranked 957th just last month, Sloane Stephens won the United States Open on Saturday, completing one of the most remarkable comebacks in a sport where comebacks are the coin of the realm.
Stephens, an unseeded 24-year-old, defeated the No. 15-seeded Madison Keys, her American contemporary, 6-3, 6-0.
It was the first Grand Slam singles final for both women, who have been friends since their junior days and have played on Fed Cup teams and Olympic teams together.
But this match in Arthur Ashe Stadium was a shared experience on another level. Stephens’s resurgence since returning in July from foot surgery has been astonishing in its speed, and Keys has made a convincing comeback of her own after two operations on her left wrist in the past 10 months.