US mates in showdown for French Open final berth

EVEN without injured Serena Williams, the US is assured a French Open finalist after Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens rolled into the Roland Garros semi-finals.

The pair, inseparable offcourt, will clash at the highest level for the first time since Stephens thrashed Keys in the US Open final last September.

Keys was the first to secure a last-four berth by beating Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 7-6, 6-4. Stephens followed with a 6-3, 6-1 thumping of Russian Daria Kasatkina.

Coached by Lindsay Davenport, Keys denied she lacked the temperament to win majors.

“I have actually been told quite often that I’ll never win or do well because I’m too nice a person and I just don’t have it,” she said.

“I think that’s a load of crap. I don’t think you have to be mean in order to win matches.”

Stephens leads the players’ head-to-head record 2-0 but Keys said she was unconcerned about the past.

“(The US Open) feels like it was 12 years ago,” she said.

“It feels completely different here. I obviously lost to Sloane at the US Open, but I feel like on clay it’s a little bit of a different match-up.”

Both Stephens and Keys were out injured a year ago. They are now bona fide stars.

“To have two Americans in the semi-finals of the French Open, I think, is pretty incredible,” Stephens said. “That means one American will be in the final of a French Open, which is another amazing thing.

“When we get on the court, it’s time to compete. But before that, we are not going to be weird and awkward and make it, like, weird for each other.

“Yeah, I think everything will be normal.”