Sloane Stephens’ Brand Partners

Sloane Stephens was introduced to the sport by her mother, Sybil Smith at the age of 9. She won her first grand slam at the US Open in 2017.  With a big smile and powerful game, Stephens is sought after by companies looking for the next big US women’s tennis player.

Her sponsors are Free People Movement, Head, Mercedes-Benz, Colgate, doTerra International, and Universal Thread. She has earned over $20 million in her career.

Free People Movement

In 2023, Stephens switched to Free People Movement clothing after being dropped by Nike. Sloane Stephens signed with Nike after winning the US Open in 2017.  Previously, she had a long-standing partnership with Under Armor.

HEAD

Stephens has been using Head racquets for a long time.  Her current equipment of choice is the HEAD Radical Graphene racquet.

Mercedes-Benz

Sloane Stephens has been a global ambassador for Mercedes-Benz since 2018. The German luxury car maker also sponsors Roger Federer. As part of the sponsorship, Stephens received Mercedes-Benz GLE 63 S Coupe.  Mercedes Benz is the official vehicle sponsor of the U.S. Open.

Colgate

Stephens, known for her big smile, has a deal with Colgate. Colgate also supports the Sloane Stephens Foundation by offering educational programs to build healthy dental habits among children.

Milk Processor Education Program (MilkPEP)

MilkPEP partnered with Stephens for the Built With Chocolate Milk campaign. The campaign is designed to educate athletes and exercisers about the recovery benefits of low-fat chocolate milk.

doTerra International

Stephens is a Performance Advocate for doTerra International,  a multi-level marketing company based in Pleasant Grove, Utah that sells essential oils and other related products

Universal Thread (Target)

Stephens endorses Target’s Universal Thread brand, an exclusive women’s lifestyle denim brand. She promotes the line  via her social media channels as part of the Target Social Media Influencer Campaign

Sloane Stephens Foundation

The Sloane Stephens Foundation, founded in 2013 by Stephens and her family is dedicated to inspiring a love of physical fitness in children who often lack structured physical education in school.

The Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® educational program has partnered with The Sloane Stephens Foundation to instill healthy habits among America’s children  through a new initiative called “Serving Up Smiles.”

At select Foundation “play days,” children practice tennis basics on a professional court with Stephens.  the Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® mobile dental van will be on-site to provide free oral care screenings for children ages three to 12, along with games and educational activities for all ages.

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How Does Hawk-Eye Work? How Accurate is it?

What is Hawk-Eye?

Hawk-eye is the name of a line-calling system which traces a ball’s trajectory and sends it to a virtual-reality machine. In addition to tennis, it is also used in other sports such as cricket, soccer, badminton and snooker.

Who owns Hawk-Eye?

Hawk-eye system is owned by Sony. It was originally developed in the UK by Pawl Hawkins. It was launched in 2001.  Miami Open was the first official tennis tournament to use Hawk-eye. Today, Hawk-eye is used in almost all the tournaments.  In addition to the show courts, outer courts also have Hawk-eye at many tournaments.

How does Hawk-Eye work?

Hawk-Eye uses six to ten cameras situated around the court. The cameras capture 60 high-resolution images per section.  At least five cameras cover every bounce of the ball. A centralized computer reads in the video in real time, and tracks the path of the tennis ball on each camera. These six separate views are then combined together to produce an accurate 3D representation of the path of the ball.

How accurate is Hawk-Eye?

The Hawk-Eye system has a 2.2mm margin of error. Some research studies have claimed that it can be off by as much as 10mm. That’s because the ball can move too quickly to be properly captured on camera as all cameras have a finite frame-speed.

Why is Hawk-Eye not used at the French Open?

First, there are marks on clay that an umpire could use to make a decision. It’s not always easy.  Umpires have used the wrong ball mark in big matches.

Hawk-Eye has a margin for error, and a mark, at least theoretically, doesn’t. Using Hawk-eye on clay may result in situations where the mark and Hawk-Eye results don’t align and it could undermine trust in the replay system on other surfaces.

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