Friends Stephens, Keys keep rolling
PARIS — Madison Keys was keeping an eye on a TV while getting treatment at Roland Garros the other day, watching her pal Sloane Stephens pull out a tight three-set victory.
“Living and dying on every point in the end,” Keys said. “I saw her in the locker room, and I was like, ‘God, you made me nervous at the end.’ She was like, ‘You were nervous?’ ”
The two young Americans are friends who have known each other for about a decade. They’re Fed Cup and Olympic teammates. They even debuted in a Grand Slam final together, when Stephens beat Keys for last year’s U.S. Open title. And now they’re both French Open quarterfinalists, each making it that far in Paris for the first time with relatively easy straight-set victories at Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.
The 10th-seeded Stephens was a 6-2, 6-0 winner against No. 25 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in 52 minutes, while No. 13 Keys beat No. 31 Mihaela Buzarnescu of Romania 6-1, 6-4 in 65 minutes.
If Stephens, 23, and Keys, 25, each picks up one more victory, they will face off for a berth in the championship match.
“I always want to see Sloane do well,” Keys said. “I’d love for both of us to be able to be in the position to play each other multiple times. I’m always cheering for her.”
Stephens monitors her pal’s progress, too.
“I mean, she’s, like, really the only person I actually watch, because I will be texting her during the match: ‘Come on! What are you doing?’ ” Stephens joked. “She’s been playing well. Obviously in a Slam, she really gets up, so she’s going to make whoever she plays, play. And I think that’s what’s great about Maddie.”
Next up for Keys is a match against 98th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Putintseva eliminated No. 26 Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.
Stephens’ quarterfinal opponent will be No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki, the reigning Australian Open champion, or No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia.