Sloane Stephens Is Back at the US Open—And Has an Intuitive Wellness Routine to Keep Her Grounded

There’s no right way to “do” wellness, but Marie Claire’s Doing Well offers a glimpse into the self-care mantras, therapies, and affirmations practiced by industry trailblazers.

There are probably calmer times to talk about wellness than in the middle of a US Open comeback, but that’s exactly why I wanted to know what was keeping Sloane Stephens grounded. She’s back in New York after an injury kept her out of last year’s tournament, and her return already has some momentum: an opening-round win, her first at the US Open since 2022. There was more wrapped up in the moment than tennis, too. A group of students from the Sloane Stephens Foundation—which supports underserved students through tennis and education—flew in from Compton to watch her win, just one day after she was honored with the USTA’s Serving Up Dreams Award for the foundation’s work.

A week that full makes the whole wellness conversation feel a little different. It’s not just what you can buy or book—it can also be the things that make all of it feel meaningful. For Stephens, that starts with giving herself a little grace. Therapy has long been part of her life, and she talks a lot about being patient with herself, especially as a professional athlete dealing with the constant ups and downs that come with the job.

Then, of course, there’s the fun stuff. Stephens’s day-to-day routine lands somewhere between pro athlete and beauty girl. She’s been using vibration plates since she was about 15, long before they became trendy, and she’s currently plotting a sauna big enough for friends. Skincare is another story: bring up Dr. Diamond’s Metacine, and she has opinions about the luxury skincare routine she says changed her complexion. Some days, though, wellness looks a lot simpler: a cold shower or 10 minutes listening to her favorite podcast. Ahead, Stephens shares how she’s Doing Well in the middle of a pretty major comeback.

I think my vibration plate and my red light in the morning, but I don’t even know if that’s really woo-woo anymore. Everyone’s doing it now. I’ve been using vibration plates since I was probably 15 years old because we use them to warm up when we train, so I’ve been doing that for a really long time. But it didn’t really become a wellness thing for me until I started doing it in the mornings with my infrared light. That changed the game.

Right now, I love Jay Shetty, and I love Bible widgets. Even if you’re not super religious and you’re just spiritual, they really help you tap back in. I think sometimes when you get a little lost or confused in your world, the Bible widgets are really good reminders.

I don’t really have a morning one, but I think my one in general is, ‘It’s not if, it’s when.’

My vibration plate and red light are probably my highest-priced items. I’m also getting an in-home sauna, and my mom and I were trying to decide whether to get a two-seater so we can both use it or a three-seater so we can have little parties. I have an outdoor one currently, and I have a cold plunge, so I do back and forth for recovery, but that’s more sports recovery. The infrared sauna is more of a wellness thing—something I can do with my mom or friends.

There’s also a retinol from Dr. Diamond‘s Metacine that has changed my face completely. It is so good. It’s so expensive—so expensive. I’ve told five of my friends about this brand, and everyone’s buying it. They’re like, ‘How are you convincing us to buy $800 products?’ And I’m like, ‘Bro, I’m telling you, it works.’ It’s that good. There’s a three-step routine that they gave to me, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to try it,’ because everyone says it works so well. And I’m telling you, it’s changed my face. Honestly, once you start it, you can’t go back.

Honestly, cold water. I always take a cold shower in the morning just to wake up.

A lot of journaling, a lot of therapy, and just being patient with myself. I think as a professional athlete, there are always a lot of things happening and a lot of adversity, so I’m trying to be very patient with myself. I’ve definitely gotten better at prioritizing it as I’ve gotten older, but my mom’s a psychologist, so mental health has always been part of my life.

I don’t know if I would tell my younger self anything. I think I would just create better routines that worked for me and that I could actually stick to, then adapt them as I got older.

Shop Sloane Stephens' Wellness Routine

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