Stephens to face Halep in French women’s final
PARIS — During last year’s French Open final, Sloane Stephens was nowhere near Roland Garros. She was in Chicago with coach Kamau Murray, working her way back from a foot injury that required surgery and sidelined her for 11 months.
“Indoors on a hard court. Getting ready for grass. Barely walking. Playing tennis next to a bunch of 5- and 6-year-old screaming kids,” Murray recalled. “So to be here from there, I think, is rewarding, because those times were not easy.”
Times are good now. Stephens closed in on her second Grand
Slam title by beating pal Madison Keys 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday in the first all-american semifinal at the French Open since 2002. It also was a rematch of the U.S. Open final won by Stephens last September.
“It’s always hard playing someone from your country and such a good friend,” Stephens said, “so I was really pleased to be able to get through that and play some good tennis.”
The 10th-seeded Stephens’ opponent in Saturday’s final will be Simona Halep, who ended the impressive French Open run of 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza, 6-1, 6-4.
Halep assured herself of retaining the No. 1 ranking and also earned a fourth chance to win her first major title.
She twice has lost in the final at Roland Garros — to Maria Sharapova in 2014 and to Jelena Ostapenko in 2017 — and was runner-up to Caroline Wozniacki at the Australian Open in January.
“I lost three times until now and no one died,” Halep said, “so it will be OK.”
Muguruza, a two-time major champion, entered the semifinals having not lost a set in the tournament. She also was coming off a lopsided quarterfinal victory a day earlier, overwhelming Sharapova 6-2, 6-1.
But it took Muguruza quite awhile to get going against Halep, who managed to keep sending ball after ball back over the net.
Halep went ahead 3-0 with the help of only one winner. Of her first 14 points, 13 arrived via errors by Muguruza — nine unforced, four forced. It was 5-0 by the time Muguruza eventually claimed a game.
Muguruza’s last stand came at
4-all in the second set, a 13-minute game in which she held three break points. But she failed to convert any, and Halep held there, before breaking at love to end it.