Title : Sloane Stephen Covers Sports Illustrated
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Sloane Stephen Covers Sports Illustrated
Being on the cover of an iconic magazine isn't quite as prestigious as it used to be. But it's still really remarkable to see that Sports Illustrated opted to to put Sloane Stephens out front this week -- Steffi Graf had to win the goddamn Grand Slam before she got noticed! -- a particularly noteworthy honor considering the venerable magazine has only featured tennis on less than 3 percent of its covers since the first issue came out on Aug. 16, 1954. (That means there were dozens and dozens of years no tennis was on the cover at all.) And it's never featured Andy Roddick (2003 U.S. Open winner/supposed heir apparent to Pete Sampras), Michael Change (an American who won the French Open at 17), Jim Courier (an American who won four majors), Novak Djokovic (12 majors), Andy Murray (first Brit to win Wimbledon since 1936), Martina Hingis (teenager who won three majors in one year), Justine Henin (seven-time major winner and Serena Williams's one-time nemesis) or even American Lindsay Davenport (three majors) on the cover -- and barely gave Roger Federer, Chris Evert and Venus Williams the time of the day. (Federer didn't get a cover until he completed a career Grand Slam in 2009. And 16-time major winner Rafael Nadal was only on the cover once in an action shot versus Federer in 2008.) Hell, three of Serena's five covers have all come in this current decade, hinting that they are finally acknowledging a huge oversight.
Sloane's an American, of course. But it probably doesn't hurt that her life story is every bit as interesting as her run to the U.S. Open title!
S.L. Price writes:
Her parents divorced when she was an infant; Sloane didn’t meet her father, former Patriots running back John Stephens, until she was 13. [He has nine other children by seven other women.] But they then spoke often by phone and grew close; she was 16 and preparing to play in the U.S. Open junior tournament when she got the news that he had been killed in a car accident. Hungry for information, Sloane hit the Internet and discovered that her father had pleaded guilty to rape in 1994—and was facing another sexual assault charge when, at 43, he lost control of his truck and hit a tree near Shreveport, La. She attended his funeral and flew back the next day.
After winning her second-round match in three sets, she lost and went home. “And I didn’t think I would ever be able to regroup here, at this place, because it was just filled with so many emotions—and not good ones,” Sloane said. “If someone told me when my dad died that I would end up winning the U.S. Open years later, I would’ve been, like, You’re crazy. It is crazy. But I’ve had so many great moments here, and so many sad moments here, that winning, here, makes it even more special.”Read more HERE.
I went through the entire archives of Sports Illustrated yesterday. And while I don't know anything about its leadership over the years, a few things jumped out at me.
Tony Trabert was the first tennis cover back on Aug. 29, 1944. He was your typical "all-American" white guy. But the next cover featured an Australian (Lew Hoad) and then Althea Gibson, the first great black female player. Hoad then shared a cover with rival Pancho Gonzales, who was a dark-skinned Mexican-American. From there, Peruvian-born Alex Olmedo, who helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup in 1958, was featured on Sept. 7, 1959.
A couple more white guys were featured -- including handsome Dennis Ralston, who later coached Chris Evert -- then Arthur Ashe graced the cover on Aug. 29, 1966 ...
and again when he won Wimbledon in 1975, was named Sportsman of the Year in 1992 and yet again when he died of complications of AIDS in 1993.
Evonne Goolagong, an Australian Aboriginal, was featured twice -- and before Americans Billie Jean King or Chris Evert ever appeared. I got the feeling that whoever was in charge in the 1970s didn't care much for Chris, too. Because when she did finally make the cover, it was one of those fold-out deals featuring Jimmy Connors and her -- only she was on the part that wasn't visible when the magazine was folded on the newsstand. When she won Wimbledon in 1974, she again had to share the cover with her then-beau. (In 1976 they ran another Goolagong cover with the headline, "Does Evonne Have Chrissie's Number? Goolagong Wins Again.")
Unlike later years when Federer, Nadal and Djokovic weren't considered very coverworthy, the 1970s/early '80s editors loved a European master, putting Bjorn Borg out front time and time again. Wimbledon and U.S. Open winners were most likely to get the cover. But Borg even landed it when he won the 1981 French Open, which would turn out to be his last major. They also couldn't resist his bizarre wooden-racket comeback -- who could forget "The Curious Case of Bjorn Borg" cover from 1991?
I mention much this because I got the sense that the editors made a conscious effort to feature a diverse group of athletes -- and certainly not just American ones -- which seems like the exception to the rule in U.S. media at the time.
Perhaps the three most iconic covers of my childhood were when Tracy Austin became the youngest winner of the U.S. Open ...
This one of Borg, which I may have used in the bathroom a few times ...
And when Ivan Lendl finally got his moment in the sun -- only to have the coverline eclipse him!
For a complete look at all 79 tennis covers -- plus two bonuses -- click HERE.
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