These sports stars met as kids in South Florida. Now, there’s a split
These two seemed like a match made in heaven — for sports fans.
Alas, Sloane Stephens of the tennis world and Jozy Altidore of the soccer world are not meant to be.
On Saturday, the U.S. Open winner announced on her Instagram stories that they’ve decided to split, as screengrabbed by TMZ.
“Jozy and I have decided to end our marriage,” read the fleeting message. “With peace, I am navigating this transition with mutual respect and kindly ask for privacy during this time.”
Altidore, 36, has yet to comment on the state of his love life. But according to the Palm Beach County Clerk of Courts, Stephens, 32, filed for dissolution of marriage on Feb. 4. The case status is open; a lawyer is listed for the petitioner, but not for the defendant, whose first name is listed as Josmer.
The exes were married New Year’s Day 2022 at the St. Regis Bal Harbour, reports Vogue, which covered the lush nuptials. The glossy notes that the pair got engaged in 2019 after dating for three years. But in fact, they’d known each other most of their lives.
Stephens, who was born in Plantation, and Altidore, a New Jersey native who was raised in Boca Raton, both attended Boca Prep International School as middle schoolers.
They reconnected randomly years later after running into each other at a Home Depot in Carson, Calif.
“Since we both grew up in South Florida, Miami was the perfect place to bring our families together,” Altidore told the mag about why they chose to have their wedding in their hometown. “And January is the best time to be there.”
In October 2023, the retired striker seemed happy in the relationship.
“She’s done a lot of good things for me,” Altidore said during an appearance on CBS Sports’ “Kickin’ It” show. “We met up in 2016, reupped again and had a lot of good years together on the field, off the field.”
The athletes have no children; Altidore has an 11-year-old son Cameron from a previous relationship. As for Stephens, it sounds like kids are in the cards eventually. She told Cosmopolitan magazine that she froze her eggs and advocates for others to do the same.
“It’s about time we normalize female athletes making choices for themselves and their futures,” she said. “Because no woman should have to choose between their career and their family.”
