US Open: Fab Four American women give U.S. audiences a patriotic affair
A historic four American women, three of them African American, have clinched all the semifinal spots at the U.S. Open. It’s a signal that there is depth in field for the U.S.A., two decades after the dominance of Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova (who is a U.S. citizen).
Serena Williams, at home with her new healthy baby girl must be proud. Not only is her sister, Venus, into the semifinals, but she’ll be facing compatriot Sloane Stephens, who booked her spot earlier Tuesday with a surprise win over No. 4 Elina Svitolina. Coco Vanderweghe dispatched another tough opponent in her quarterfinal clash Wednesday with world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, defeating her in two sets. It was a double loss for the Czech player since her inability to make it to the semi guaranteed that Garbine Muguruza would take her No. 1 ranking as well. With the final match of the night, Madison Keys came through last to complete the Fab Four for Team U.S.A.
The last time it was an all-American women’s grand slam semi lineup was 1985, when Martina Navratilova sent Zina Garrison packing and Chris Evert did the same to Kathy Rinaldi. The home country ladies in this year’s semifinals have conveniently come from separate quarters of the draw and have each taken down much tougher and higher ranked opponents. It almost has the feel of a team effort.
“I think it shows how hard we’ve been working,” said Madison Keys, the last of the women to come through. “I think it’s just really exciting.”
Sloane Stephens – back from injury and a meteoric rise from ranking 957
The first of the Fab Four to secure her spot in the semis, Sloane Stephens fought a tight, three-set match, with a tense tie-break in the third, thrilling the home audience. In earlier rounds, she took down higher seeds Roberta Vinci, Dominika Cibulkova, Ashleigh Barty, Julia Georges, in addition to Sevastova — Sharapova’s ouster.
It’s a long way from where she was last summer, going out in the first round in the Rio Olympics and then withdrawing for 11 months with a foot stress fracture that needed surgery and recuperation. She spent her time off commentating for the Tennis Channel and saw her ranking plummet to 957.
Stephens only just came back this summer at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round, followed up with the same at Citi Open at the start of hard court season, but has since bounced back with a vengeance, getting to the semis in Toronto and Cincinnati and coming into the U.S. Open ranked No. 83.
This will be her first U.S. Open semifinal appearance.
The year of Venus, the team leader for the American women
The historic significance isn’t lost on Venus, who played among the American greats in the earlier part of her career.
“All I’ve known all my life is great American players, so it’s great to see this resurgence, and I hope it can continue,” Williams said after her win over Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2).
The match between the two players was intense from the start, both in the midst of their own comebacks and feeling the pressure. Power hitters, Kvitova and Williams seemed to mirror each other’s game, where stressful mistakes were met with glorious winners. Both players hit several double faults. The match could have gone either way, and at one point, Kvitova was four games away from winning, but ultimately, the crowd and grit of Venus helped her sail through.
Afterward, she gave a nod to the journey Kvitova has gone through to get all the way to this level after being sidelined when she was attacked in her home last December and her crucial hitting hand was damaged, threatening the end of her career.
“First of all, everything that she’s gone through—to go through that is unbelievable, and you don’t imagine that you’re going to wake up one day and that’s going to happen,” Williams said in her on-court interview. “So it’s so wonderful to see her back and playing amazing.”
Williams has been working her way back to form after being diagnosed with Sjogren syndrome in 2011, which sapped her energy. But Venus endured and has shown remarkable resilience all year. Serena Williams may have won her record 23rd grand slam in Australia, but she faced Venus in one of the two finals her older sister has been in this year. If she makes it to Saturday, it will be her third final this year, a feat she hasn’t accomplished since 2002 when she reached the French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open finals.
20 years after she made her debut here, at age 37, the wins now mean so much more for the world No. 9. If she walks away with the title, she will be the new world No. 2.
“Definitely felt like a special match,” Williams said afterwards. “This match meant a lot to me, obviously, playing at home and of course it being a major.”
CoCo Vandeweghe brings renewed focus to send the top seed home
CoCo Vendeweghe was on fire during her quarterfinal match with top seed Karolina Pliskova, defeating the Czech 7-6(4), 6-3. The 20th seed has struggled with inconsistent results in the past, but none were on display as she showed grit but remained steady to bring home the win on Tuesday.
“Venus last night said it very well that the younger ones were looking at Lindsay [Davenport], Jennifer [Capriati], and Serena [Williams], and Venus,” Vandeweghe, age 25, gushed about Venus’s win the night before. “I think that still holds. We wanted to be those same players in a later generation.”
Thursday’s semifinal appearance is her second grand slam semi this year, including the Australian Open back in January. Her new coach, former Wimbledon champ Pat Cash, has been on hand since Wimbledon, and is clearly working out.
“When I won this event as a junior at 16 and I always dreamed of being here on the big stage,” Vandeweghe said on-court afterwards. “At 16, I thought it would be overnight, but it is a process.”
Madison Keys, also back from injury but shining at Flushing Meadows
The last to join the party was Vandeweghe’s Fed Cup teammate, Madison Keys, back herself from a wrist injury, which she underwent surgery for right before the Australian Open, missing it this year. She was ousted out of the French Open and Wimbledon in the second rounds after she came back. But the 22-year-old pulled it together by the time she reached Flushing Meadows. She dispatched Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, 32, in two sets, 6-3, 6-3, in a very efficient 1 hour, 9 minutes.
“This is for sure the first Grand Slam I have come in and felt really good and healthy and ready to play,” Keys said after the match. “It hasn’t always been fun, but I think I have learned a lot and grown a lot through the experience, so I’m just really happy that I feel like I’m on a really good path right now.”
Keys is the youngest of the four Americans who came through their quarterfinal matches, but still appreciates the success all the more at age 22 and after injury.
“This means the world to me,’’ Keys said in her on-court interview. “If someone told me before Wimbledon I’d be here, I wouldn’t believe them.”
All four women are thrilled with their patriotic wins, but come Thursday, two have to go home, and then it will be down to the final. The question is, on home court during the semis, who will the audience be rooting for among the Fab Four?