Stephens stuns Venus Williams in US Open semis

NEW YORK -- Sloane Stephens was two points from defeat against Venus Williams in one U.S. Open semifinal before pulling out the victory.

Madison Keys faced no such test, overwhelming CoCo Vandeweghe in the other semifinal.

Now Stephens and Keys, a pair of pals in their early 20s, will meet in the first Grand Slam title match for each - and the first allAmerican women's final at Flushing Meadows since 2002.

Stephens summoned some of her best strokes when she needed them the most, steeling herself when so close to defeat and taking the last three games of a back-andforth thriller, edging seven-time major champion Williams 61, 0-6, 7-5 on Thursday night.

"I have a lot of grit," said Stephens, who is ranked 83rd after having surgery on her left foot in January and is the fourth unseeded finalist at the tournament in the Open era, which dates to 1968. "I don't give up. Like, I'm not just going to give it to someone. I'm not just going to let them take it from me."

The 15th-seeded Keys, who dominated No. 20 Vandeweghe 61, 6-2, had her own recent health issue to deal with: She missed the first two months of this year after an offseason operation on her left wrist, then needed another procedure in June because of pain in that arm.

"It was kind of one of those days where I came out and I was kind of in a zone," Keys said of her play Thursday, "and I just kind of forced myself to stay there."

She had 25 winners to only nine unforced errors, never faced a break point and needed barely more than an hour to win.

"Madison played an unbelievable match," said Vandeweghe, who wiped away tears during her news conference. "I didn't really have much to do with anything out there."

It would have been even shorter, except play was delayed for more than five minutes when Keys left the court to have her upper right leg taped at 4-1 in the second set. AP