Sloane Stephens won a coin-toss quarterfinal on Tuesday at the 2017 Us Open. She defeated Latvian player Anastasija Sevastova in a deciding-set tiebreaker 7-4. The US Open is the only major that plays tiebreakers in the deciding set and that made for some high drama for The American player in front of her home country fans.
Stephens, who is 24-years-old, has won her quarter in a major one time before. However, that was way back in the 2013 Australian Open, a long time ago when one considers that Stephens has not had a long career. The American has gone through a lot since that semifinal appearance.
There have been slumps, upsets, flashes of high-level tennis, and injury. The latter kept her out of basically the last year of Grand Slams as, prior to the 2017 US Open, she only contested one match in a major of the last four.
Did Stephens really shock Sevastova?
There are those that seem surprised at the fact that Stephens is in the semifinals. For example, Eurosport offered the following headline following her victory on Tuesday: "Sloane Stephens shocks 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova to reach semis" (no author listed). The article notes Stephens' low ranking of World No. 83, a ranking that is normally unbecoming to a player at such a late point in a Grand Slam. But those following the women's tour know when rankings are legitimate and when they are fluff.
Stephens proved that her game was on par with the top ten on the women's tour in Toronto and Montreal. She made the semifinals of both tournaments and twice defeated Petra Kvitova. Accordingly, there's nothing shocking with Stephens beating Sevastova despite the difference in ranking.
Stephens could face Kvitova again
The victories over Kvitova may prove relevant when it comes to predicting a finalist from Stephens' half of the draw.
Kvitova remains alive in the tournament as she will face Venus Williams in the evening session from Flushing Meadows on Tuesday. If Kvitova wins that match then Stephens would have to feel confident in the semifinal due to the two recent wins over the Czech player. If Venus Williams defeats Kvitova then it would guarantee an American in the US Open final as both Williams and Stephens are American nationals.
In all cases, the peripheral ranks won't see Stephens' name anytime soon. A run to the semifinals is enough to put her in the top 40 next week. There's still room for growth at Flushing Meadows, in fact, she can get into the top 20 again, and might be higher ranked than Sevastova on September 11th if Stephens can come away with a title in New York.
