Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Healthy Stephens makes 1st semifinal
NEW YORK — Sloane Stephens is convinced that her run to the U.S. Open semifinals is not proof that she is back to being as good a player as she was before foot surgery took her off the tour for nearly a year.
Instead, it’s a result of being better than ever.
Able to summon big strokes when it mattered most, Stephens reached the final four at Flushing Meadows for the first time by edging 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) for her deepest run at any major since 2013.
“Before ... I had won a couple tournaments and was playing well, obviously,” Stephens said. “But being injured gave me a whole new perspective on tennis, on life.”
The 83rd-ranked American has won 13 of her last 15 matches, all on hard courts, reaching the semifinals at three consecutive tournaments for the only time in her career.
“She had better nerves in the end,” Sevastova said. “She played amazing points in the end. She deserves it.”
Stephens was one of four U.S. women in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows, the most since five made it that far 15 years ago. Stephens could face one of the others next: Her opponent Thursday will be No. 9 Venus Williams or No. 13 Petra Kvitova, whose match was Tuesday night.
In the top half of the draw’s quarterfinals Wednesday, No. 1 Karolina Pliskova meets No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe of the U.S., and No. 15 Madison Keys of the U.S. faces 418thranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi.
In the men’s quarterfinals, 12th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta had no trouble beating No. 29 Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. It was Carreno Busta’s first match of the tournament against an opponent who was not a qualifier.
Carreno Busta’s debut in a Grand Slam semifinal will come Friday against No. 17 Sam Querrey of the U.S. or No. 28 Kevin Anderson, who were scheduled to play Tuesday night.
“I know that I didn’t win matches against top players — top-10 or top-20 players,” Carreno Busta said, “but I am very happy with my tournament.”