WATCH | US Open 2017: Sloane Stephens takes big leap into semis
Sloane Stephens took down 16th-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova with a gritty 6-3 3-6 7-6(4) win on Tuesday to lead what could be an American parade into the US Open semi-finals.
For the first time in 15 years four American women reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows with the 83rd-ranked Stephens hoping to be joined in the last four by Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe and Madison Keys.
With her win over 16th seed Sevastova, Stephens becomes the first American woman apart from Venus or Serena Williams to make the US Open last four since 2004.
Replay: @SloaneStephens takes the first set vs Sevastova, 6-3. #USOpen @jpmorgan pic.twitter.com/1Zov4W9TbN
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2017
“Man, I am hoping we can make it four, how awesome would that be,” said Stephens. “This is pretty amazing. I hope there are four Americans in the semi-finals.”
Ranked outside the top 950 just six weeks ago, Stephens was the most likely of the US contenders to see her run end in the quarter-finals but the 24-year-old would not be denied.
Down 3-1 and a double break point in the third set, she dug deep and rode the support …read more