Commanding Respect: Sloane has Plenty to Prove and Disprove

This December, I'm going to attempt to profile a few players to watch in advance of the 2014 season. Leave a comment on any of these postmortems if there is a player you think I overlooked!

Her future is as bright as her kits

Sloane Stephens's 2013 could be described using many words with varied meanings: breakout, schizophrenic, inconsistent, lucky, tumultuous. It was a year that Sloane really made her mark on the WTA circuit as a constant headline grabber, someone you want to see succeed or fail spectacularly. In my opinion, Sloane became the most polarizing figure in women's tennis over the past year, and she managed to do so with both her play on the court and magazine interviews off of it. Here's a look at her ever-oscillating season:

The Good

If you wanna rip on Sloane's season, the one area you can't knock is her ability to get up for the Grand Slams. Along with Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska, Sloane was one of three women to make the second week of each one (and very well could've won Wimbledon). She also plays well in tight moments, a key trait that many great players share. And I believe she's on her way to doing some big things in this sport. She's got the power, she's got the speed, and she's got the confidence. Most importantly, we've seen her put it together, if only for a stretch of two matches. Sloane's decision to work with Paul Annacone is really encouraging for those of us who enjoy seeing her put together.

The Bad

Her poor patches of play leave so much to be desired, particularly at tour-level events. She's made only one semifinal outside of Melbourne this year, zero outside of Australia as a whole. Sloane has lost to a lot of players that she should routinely beat (e.g. STEFANIE VOEGELE IN BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS, WHAT IS THAT). That's so not Top 15 material. Her inconsistency and lethargy match in, match out is what's keeping her away from the upper echelons of the circuit.

The Ugly

All the drama surrounding Sloane this year was...a lot. Among being "disrespected," beating Serena, Vika's MTO, blasting Serena, flatline press conferences, not being able to hold serve against Marion Bartoli, and almost losing in the first round of the U.S. Open, it's hard to pick which moment caused more angst. I wonder how all of it affected her on the court, especially because she bursted out of the gates in 2013 and noticeably cooled down post-January.

2014 Outlook

The spotlight will be very bright on Sloane as we begin a new season. Her 2013 was full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and other roller coaster terms. She will be under immediate scrutiny to defend the bulk of her points Down Under we'll quickly learn if she can handle the pressure of defending your rank in the WTA pecking order. Still, once this January has passed, there are tons of opportunity for Sloane to make a serious push to the highest tiers. If she is able to steady herself and her results, I really believe Sloane has the capacity to be a mainstay for a long time. She just has to take it one match at a time.

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment!