Sloane Stephens and No. 13 Madison Keys sealed their showdown in the women’s singles of the US Open after disposing of their respective rivals in the all-American semifinal Thursday. The unseeded Stephens stunned fellow American and No. 9 seed Venus Williams, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5, in the first semifinal pairing to reach her first career Grand Slam final.
Keys, for her part, dominated CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-1, 6-2 to reach her first career US Open final. This marked the first all-American final at the US Open since 2002, when Serena Williams defeated sister Venus.
This was also the first all-American Grand Slam final not involving a Williams since Martina Navratilova and Zina Garrison faced off at Wimbledon in 1990.
Stephens ousted Williams in 3 sets
Stephens won her second straight match against two-time US Open champion Williams, spoiling her march to a third Grand Slam final of the year. Stephens took the first set in 24 minutes after breaking Williams twice and looked headed for an easy win. However, Williams came out sizzling in the second set, winning 77 percent of her first-serve points, as she forced a deciding set after just 30 minutes of play. It was a close fight in the third before Stephens broke Williams in the 11th game and held her serve in the 12th game to close out the match and clinch a spot in the championship match.
Keys, for her part, closed out the first set in 23 minutes but had to take a seven-minute medical timeout and returned with a strap around her right thigh. Keys, who closed out the win with an emphatic ace, will climb from No. 16 to 12 when the rankings are released Monday. Keys could reach No. 9 if she wins the US Open crown.
The winner will pocket the top purse of $3.7 million.
Spaniards to play in men’s semifinal
For the first time in US Open history, two Spaniards – Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta – will play in the semifinals Saturday. World No. 1 Nadal will clash with No. 24 seed Juan Martin del Potro while No. 12 Carreno Busta plays No.
28 Anderson for a spot in the final. Nadal leads Del Potro, 8-5, in their head-to-head showdown but the latter has a 5-4 advantage on hard courts.
Nadal will try to reach his 23rd career Grand Slam final and clinch his 15th Grand Slam crown. Carreno Busta, for his part, will seek to become the US Open champion since Neale Fraser in 1960 to win the title without dropping a set while Anderson is bidding to become the first South African to make it to a US open final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965.
