11 months ago, Sloane Stephens’ foot was in a boot, and she could not hit a tennis ball. The unseeded American reached back-to-back semifinals in Toronto and Cincinnati, and she denied, her compatriot Venus Williams the chance to reach her third Grand Slam final of the year by defeating the former world number one, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 in a two hour and six minute contest, where she will face 15th seed Madison Keys or 20th seed Coco Vandeweghe in an all-American final on Saturday.
Despite the semifinal being an All-American affair, the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd were desperately behind Williams, and both players got off to a good start by holding their service games with ease. However, it was the 24-year-old who struck first by breaking the two-time US Open champion’s serve to take a 3-1 lead in the first set.
Furthermore, Williams who played the match of the tournament against Petra Kvitova in the previous round, was sluggish in this first match as Stephens continued to crush the ball, producing forehand winners down the line, consolidating the break to lead 4-1.
Once again, the former world number one was struggling on her serve, and Stephens grabbed the double break by committing a double fault, stretching out to a comfortable 5-1 lead.
In a blink of an eye, the first set was in the pocket for the former world number 11 with a hold to love, sending a strong big serve down the middle, taking it 6-1 in just 24 minutes.
Williams storms back to take the second set
The seven-time Grand Slam champion was in serious trouble of falling away in this second set, like she did in the Wimbledon final against Garbine Muguruza, a couple of months ago. She faced three break points, and she saved them and held onto her serve, with a big roar from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
The pendulum swung in the ninth seed’s favor as her movement significantly improved in the second set as she produced back-to-back forehand and backhand winners down the line to have two break points. She failed to take the first one but Stephens committed a double fault to hand Williams a 2-0 lead.
There was no stopping the 37-year-old as she was in the groove, consolidating the break with a hold to love, and the second set was rapidly fading away from the world number 83 as the two-time US Open champion produced a crushing backhand down the line, and sealed the double break with a half volley winner in the corner, leading 4-0.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd were firmly behind Williams as she clinched the second set as Stephens netted a forehand into the net, which summed her state of mind in the second set, Williams clinched it 6-0 in just 30 minutes to force a decider with 54 minutes being played.
Stephens reaches her first Grand Slam final
Surprisingly, despite the momentum being with Williams, she was broken in the first game of the decisive set. Furthermore, the former top 15 player, saved two crucial break points at 15-40, showcasing brilliant defense, and forcing the ninth seed to commit more errors.
Stephens was hunting down the double break as she led 0-30 on Wiliams’ serve, and a crucial moment in this game to go 0-40 was that she was trying to place a sweet backhand down the line, which found the net instead. Williams managed to hang onto her serve, and her dream of winning an eighth Grand Slam singles title, remained alive as she broke back in the next game, on the fourth break point chance.
The final set was evenly poised at 2-2 as Williams saved another break point, and the turning point this final set was that Williams failed to break Stephens’ serve to take a 4-2 lead as the younger American produced a strong serve out wide, followed by a forehand winner placed sweetly down the line to save the first one. A poor drop volley from Williams at the net let Stephens off the hook, who leveled proceedings at 3-3.
Once again, Stephens who was competing in her second Grand Slam semifinal broke her compatriot’s serve again to lead in the final for the second time in a game that lasted seven and a half minutes. However, the former world number one did not give up as she broke back immediately with a crushing forehand down the line, returning the weak second serve, that got the treatment that it deserved.
At 4-4, a crucial challenge from Wiliams was good as she would have been a break down, and Stephens would have served for a place in the final. However, it was a poor call from the line judge, which let the elder American off the hook, and Williams took a crucial 5-4 lead.
The 24-year-old was two points away from defeat at 30-30 but she came out on top in a rally which was dominated by this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon finalist, she absorbed Williams’ slice using it to her advantage, producing a stunning backhand down the line on the stretch followed by a big celebration. She restored parity at 5-5 with a big serve down the middle.
It was no fairytale in New York for Williams, who was looking to reach her first US Open final since 15 years as she was broken to love by Stephens. It was a nerveless game for the unseeded American, who stunned the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd by ousting the two-time former champion, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 in a two hour and seven-minute war of attrition. Stephens will face Keys or Vandeweghe in her first Grand Slam final on Saturday.
Stephens admirably spoke about Williams, reaching her first Grand Slam final and American tennis in her interview.
“I have no words to describe, what I’m feeling, what it took to get here, just the journey I’ve been on, I mean I have no words.
“I have no idea, you;re guess is just as good as mine, when I started my comeback if someone told me that I’d make two semifinals and a Grand Slam final,I would have just passed out, because that’s what I’m ready to do now, it’s incredible, I don’t even know what to say, I don’t know how I got here, just hard work that’s it.
“It required a lot of fight, a lot of grit, I knew if I just played my game, and stayed with it and hung tough, and don’t get too hard on myself, I would have a few opportunities, that’s just what I did, hopefully we make Sports Center, I just worked my tail off and ran every ball down and tried to get a racquet on every ball, in the finals we are.
“Honestly, just honoured to play at the same time as her, one of the greatest to play our game, one of the most graceful, elegant, everything nice to say about Venus, she’s one of the greatest competitors, and I’m just honoured that I was able to share the court with her.
“For American question, there’s no question mark, proof is in the pudding and it’s all fact, see it how you want it, American tennis, here we are.”
