Yesterday in tennis the women's semifinals matches took place, with the men's matches having concluded today. With a trip to the finals of the US Open at stake, which players prevailed to give themselves a shot at winning the final major of the year?

Which women will be playing in the finals?

The first women's semifinals match yesterday saw Sloane Stephens (unseeded) defeat a resurgent Venus Williams (9) in three sets 6-1, 0-6, 7-5. Stephens, who was playing in only her second semifinals in a major, prevent Williams from making her third finals appearance this year and managed to make it herself for the first time.

This represents a big turnaround for Stephens, who missed 11 months of action after having foot surgery on her right foot due to a stress fractured in August 2016. She came back to action in July, getting bounced in the first round at Wimbledon and the ATP & WTA Citi Open. At this point, the 24-year-old Stephens had fallen all the way to 934th in the world.

However, she made it to the semifinals in her next to tournaments leading up the US Open, jumping up all the way to 83rd. She is now the second lowest ranked women (Clijsters, 2009) to reach the US Open finals since the rankings were introduced in 1975.

The final women's semifinals match yesterday witnessed Madison Keys (15) easily defeated CoCo Vandeweghe (20) in two sets 6-1, 6-2.

Keys, who like Stephens and also Vandeweghe was playing in only her second semifinals, now reached her first finals in a major.

Interestingly enough, Keys also defeated Vandeweghe last month at the WTA Tour Bank of the West Classic to win her only single title of the year. The 22-year-old will now face off against Stephens as both women look to win their first major tomorrow.

Which men will be playing in the finals?

In the first men's semifinals matchup today Kevin Anderson (28) defeated Pablo Carreno Busta (12) in four sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 as both men were playing in their first semifinals in a major. Anderson is now the first South African player to reach the finals of the US Open since Cliff Drysdale in 1965.

He had already become the first former college player to reach a major semifinal since Todd Martin at the 2000 US Open.

In the other men's semifinals match today Rafael Nadal (1) dispatched Juan Martin del Potro (24) in four sets 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. This is Nadal's 23rd overall appearance in a major final but only his 4th ever at the US Open. It is also his first US Open finals appearance since 2013. Nadal will be facing Anderson on Sunday as he seeks his 16th career Grand Slam title.
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