15th seed Madison Keys had seen her Fed Cup teammates Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and her semifinal opponent, the 20th seed Coco Vandeweghe all book their places in the semifinals of the US Open, against players from Europe. The 22-year-old American had pressure to join them, and she got the job done as she defeated Kaia Kanepi, who was ranked at 418 in the world, 6-3, 6-3 in just one hour and nine minutes to reach her first US Open semifinal and second Grand Slam semifinal in her career.
Keys’ victory over Kanepi means that for the first time since the US Open in 1981, there will be four American women in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, vying for a place in Saturday’s final, which included Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Tracy Austin and Barbara Potter. With Kanepi’s defeat for the first time since the French Open in 2013, there will not be a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist, a run that spanned for 17 successive Slams at Wimbledon in 2013 to this year’s Wimbledon.
The USA Fed Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi was part of the foursome, that was the last time which featured four American women in a Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon in 1985.
Keys has endured two wrist surgeries in the span of ten months but she has rebounded at this year’s US Open with some vintage form, that seen her rise to seven in the world last year. The 15th seed got off to an authoritative start with a hold to love, and Kanepi who’s ten years older than Keys responded with a hold to love of her own.
The Estonian qualifier is no stranger to the latter stages of Grand Slams as this was her sixth appearance in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. She lost in the previous five, twice at the French Open, twice at Wimbledon and twice in New York, including an appearance in 2010. Furthermore, Kanepi had the chance to break through as she created three break points but she was unable to capitalize on one of them, with the American holding onto her serve to lead 2-1.
The former world number 15 would later rue her mistakes as Keys broke Kanepi’s serve and she consolidated the break with some consistent serving, stretching out to a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Both players were hitting hard from the baseline, and Kanepi was struggling to get another look in the first set on Keys’ serve. Therefore, the 22-year-old American, who’s under the tutelage of 1998 champion Lindsay Davenport, who’s in her second stint in charge of Keys. In just 30 minutes, in front of a raucous home crowd on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Keys was halfway to her first US Open semifinal with a 6-3 lead.
Keys wins in straight sets to complete an All-American semifinal lineup
It was the nightmare start for the former top 15 player as she was immediately broken by Keys on the third break point chance in the second set, and the 15th seed continued to serve well, sending down aces, and serving big out wide, consolidating the break to lead 2-0.
Both players held onto their serves with little trouble, however, the American was looking to hammer the final nail in Kanepi’s coffin as she was going for a double break but the 32-year-old remained strong, producing a bludgeoning forehand in the corner to save the second break point, and received a helping hand with two back-to-back backhand errors netted from Keys, keeping the break to one but trailed 2-3.
The finishing line was in sight for the 2015 Australian Open semifinalist, and she was feeling a little bit of pressure on her serve as Kanepi continued to hit the ball into the corners, nonetheless, Keys remained strong on her serve, and she let out a big “come on” as she stretched out to a 4-2 lead.
The American’s serve was doing the damage in her next service game as she placed a couple of aces out wide, and clinched the game with a swinging forehand winner down the line, and she was one game away from a place in the semifinals, with a comfortable 5-3 lead.
The unranked Estonian was the first qualifier to reach the quarterfinals at the US Open in 36 years since the USA’s Barbara Gerken and an error-strewn game from Kanepi spelled lights out as Keys, shrieked with joy as Kanepi’s forehand went long, clinching a well-deserved, 6-3, 6-3 victory in just one hour and nine minutes, booking her place in the semifinals against Coco Vandeweghe, with both Americans bidding to reach their first Grand Slam final.
Keys was pleased to have reached her first US Open semifinal. “This means the world to me, if someone told me, this is where I would be right before Wimbledon, I wouldn’t have believed you, and yes I’m just so happy to be here, we’re going to have four American women playing here tomorrow, that’s going to be amazing.”
Keys further added on her night match on Ashe, playing in the last eight. “It was definitely further down the road, after Paris I flew home, had surgery and just wanted to have a good year, I think this is a pretty good year for me.”
Keys on four American women in the semifinals. “I was really nervous, the car ride was over, I was definitely feeling it, once I got out, I was alright.
The 15th seed spoke about her upcoming clash with Vandeweghe. “The fact we never played each other, three weeks in the span of five, it’s going to be tough, she’s playing well, there’s going to be some big serves, I don’t think there’s going too many long points sorry guys, I’m excited to play.
Keys is proud to be a member of all four American women in the semifinals. “I think it’s pretty cool, don’t you guys agree with me on that, we all were rooting for each other today, I thought it would be a special moment, I’m happy I helped everyone out and got my name in there.
Finally, the American had played her previous night matches against Elena Vesnina and Elina Svitolina on Ashe late at night, and she was happy to have finished earlier than usual. “I mean I have hours now, usually I’m getting dinner at 2 am, so I think I’ll eat at a normal time tonight.”
