Sloane Stephens, the No. 2 tennis player in the United States, has addressed the inconsistency that dampened her breakout 2012 season.
Stephens has hired former Roger Federer and Pete Sampras coach Paul Annacone on a trial basis, Tennis.com reported.
Annacone split with Fereder last month after a 3 ½-year relationship, according to Tennis.com and has been working with Stephens for a few hours each day in Los Angeles.
USA TODAY Sports reported that Stephens' agent, John Tobias, confirmed that the player would train with Annacone for the offseason but there was no commitment beyond that.
The 50-year-old Annacone coached Federer to his last Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2012, helping Federer regain the No. 1 ranking. Annacone also coached former world's No. 1 Sampras to numerous Grand Slam titles.
The coach also headed player development at both the USTA and LTA and coached Tim Henman for a stint, but has never overseen a top women's player as private coach.
The 20-year-old Stephens currently is ranked No. 12 in the world, according to USA TODAY Sports. She gained instant fame for beating top American player Serena Williams in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
Stephens reached at least the fourth round in all the majors in 2013 but made the quarterfinals or better in just 6 of 19 WTA tournaments and lost before the third round seven times. Stephens still has not reached a WTA final.
Stephens spent 2013 under the tutelage of USTA coach David Nainkin, who also coached American male player Sam Querrey. According to Tennis.com, sources said that Stephens did not want to ask Nainkin to end his relationship with Querrey so he could train her exclusively.
Tennis.com also reported that Stephens has hired Mardy Fish's personal fitness trainer, Christian LoCascio.
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