Stephens takes out Williams to reach U.S. Open final

NEW YORK — Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens will square off in an all-American women’s final at the U.S. Open on Saturday.

Both will attempt to become the first American woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to win the year’s final Grand Slam event. Serena, of course, did not play the Open after giving birth to a baby girl last Friday.

The 15th-seeded Keys, 22, advanced to her first major final in lopsided fashion, crushing No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-1, 6-2 in the second semifinal Thursday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Earlier, Stephens, 24, also moved into her maiden Grand Slam final by virtue of a much more competitive 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 win over No. 9 Venus Williams.

Stephens is 1-0 against Keys. The winner of Saturday’s final will claim her first Grand Slam title while also pocketing $3.7 million.

“Sloane is a new person right now,” Keys said. “I think she’s really loving being out on the court again. She’s just so excited to be out here and she’s obviously playing really well.

“Yeah, I’m really excited that we get to play each other in the U.S. Open final. That’s pretty cool to say.”

This marked the first time since Wimbledon in 1985 that four American women reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam event, and the first time at the US Open since 1981.

“For American tennis, there’s no question mark,” Stephens said. “The proof is in the pudding and it’s all facts. See it how you want it, American tennis here we are.”

Keys improved to 3-0 against Vandeweghe, winning the first set in 23 minutes.

Keys did take a seven-minute medical timeout while leading 6-1, 4-1. She returned with a strap around her right thigh. Still, she closed it out with an ace on match point. Keys didn’t face a break point during the match.

“I definitely started to feel it and I was just afraid that if I went too far into a corner that something more serious could happen so I felt like I had to get it worked on sooner rather than later,” she said of her leg.

Still, she added, “I feel great now. I don’t think I can feel better than I do right now.”

Stephens, ranked No. 83 after undergoing foot surgery in late January, previously reached the 2013 Australian Open semifinals, but now she’s into the final of her home Slam.

Originally from Florida, she now lives and trains in California. Just 4 1/2 weeks ago, she was ranked 957th in the world.

“I have no words to describe what I’m feeling, what it took to get here,” she said on court. “Just the journey I’ve been on, I have no words.”

In the decisive third set, Stephens broke Williams at love for a 6-5 lead when Venus smacked a backhand wide on game point.

Serving for the match, Stephens closed it out when Williams netted a backhand return of serve. A joyous Stephens began to walk around the court, waving to the crowd and to her player’s box.

“It just required a lot of fight, a lot of grit,” Stephens said. “I knew if I just hung with it and played my game and didn’t get down on myself I would have a few opportunities.”

Williams said, “It was definitely a contrast of play. I continued to play aggressive and to play the kind of tennis that it takes to win. I just made too many errors there are at the end.”

Venus was seeking to reach her third major final of 2017 after advancing to the final at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon. With her younger sister Serena out of the tournament and giving birth to a baby girl last Friday, Venus was also looking for her first Grand Slam title since 2008.

“For me, it’s about trying to get the titles and that’s all I could do, is to put yourself in position to win,” Williams said.

Whether she felt pressure playing a younger American on such a big stage was unclear.

“I felt so much more pressure playing a young American than any other player,” Chris Evert, the 18-time major champion, said during the match on ESPN. ” … It might be pressure, it might be ego, but you just don’t want the young ones to outshine you.”

Evert added, “You don’t want to hand the baton to her yet. Venus still wants to be the leader of the group and the best player.”

Now Stephens and Keys are both one match from proving they’re the best player at this U.S. Open.