Stephens roars into U.S. Open semis
NEW YORK Sloane Stephens’ comeback from injury will keep going all the way to the U.S. Open semifinals.
Stephens edged No. 16 seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday to reach the final four of a major tournament for the first time since 2013.
Sidelined from tennis for nearly a year and unsure what she could accomplish just last month, the unseeded American advanced to face Venus Williams, who beat Petra Kvitova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2).
Stephens had left foot surgery in January and didn’t return to the tour until Wimbledon until June. Her ranking fell to 934th before she reached consecutive semifinals at hard-court tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati in August.
“When I started my comeback at Wimbledon, I could have never even dreamed of something like this happening, having these results,” Stephens said.
The No. 9-seeded Williams succeeded in reaching the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time since 2010. The U.S. has a chance to claim all four spots, with No. 15 Madison Keys and 20th-seeded Coco Vandeweghe playing their quarter-final matches Wednesday.
The men got a first-time semifinalist Tuesday when Pablo Carreno Busta beat No. 29 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The 12th-seeded Spaniard easily handled his first match of the tournament against an opponent who was not a qualifier.
Now Carreno Busta will face No. 17 Sam Querrey of the U.S. or No. 28 Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who were scheduled to play Tuesday. None of those three men remaining on the bottom half of the draw has played a major final.