For the first time since 1981, all four players in the US Open women’s semifinals are Americans. It’s an extremely impressive feat in today’s diverse tennis world, and especially considering none of them are named Serena Williams. Their efforts have inspired each other throughout the tournament, but now they now will square off for the title at their home Grand Slam event.
We have a 22-year-old who had two wrist surgeries in the past year, and had a losing record in 2017 until the American hard court season. We have a 24-year-old who returned to tennis only two months ago after missing almost a full year due to a foot injury. We have a 25-year-old who is backing up her brash and cocky attitude with bold and fierce play. And of course, we have a 37-year-old legend who has been the best player of the year at the majors.
Venus Williams vs. Sloane Stephens
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Both women came back from a break down in the third set to win their quarterfinal matches in a third set tiebreak. This will be their second meeting, though Stephens’ 2015 French Open first round victory over Williams is not very revealing of what the outcome will be in the US Open semifinals. Venus is in much better form than she was two years ago, with a stellar 20-3 record at majors in 2017. Sloane has now made the semifinals at her third straight tournament, but has yet to go farther since her return to the tour. In her post-match interview on Tuesday, Stephens referenced Venus as the leader of the American women, helping to inspire their success. I wonder how much Sloane’s reverence for Venus may impact her play on Thursday evening – sometimes it’s harder to compete against someone you look up to and have so much respect for. As tremendous as Stephens’ play has been this summer, she’s still only been back on court for a few months, and is not as match tough at this point as Venus. Sloane is such a great mover, but her default mode in the past has been to play tentatively and rely too much on her movement. You also have to consider this only Stephens’ second major semifinal, while this makes 23 major semifinals for Venus. It’s hard to bet against an experience edge as sharp as that.
Madison Keys vs. CoCo Vandeweghe
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This will be their third career meeting, with both previous matches taking place within the past six weeks. Keys defeated Vandeweghe on each of those occasions: the final in Stanford, and the first round in Cincinnati. Madison has played four of her five US Open matches at night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, while CoCo has only played one night session match during this tournament. Considering this will be the last match of the evening, the late night experience should certainly help Keys. While Madison has shined in her night session matches, she’s also come out looking a bit nervous and overwhelmed during a few of them. CoCo is not one to react in such a way, and is usually not one to give away leads, so it will be crucial for Keys to avoid being tight at the start. CoCo can easily get negative, but is much improved in letting that anger out and quickly moving on without extended drops in her level of play. It’s tough to pick a winner here, as the two play very similar styles. This will be the second major semifinal for both, with the previous for each coming in Melbourne. Playing a major semifinal in your home country, and in front of a late night New York crowd, is a wholly different situation. It will be fascinating to see which player seizes what will be the biggest moment in both of their careers to date.
Semifinal order of play
Arthur Ashe Stadium (not before 19:00 local time)
(9) Venus Williams (USA) v Sloane Stephens (USA)
(20) Coco Vandeweghe (USA) v (15) Madison Keys (USA)
