Stephens, Keys set for semis
PARIS — Shortly after easily winning her French Open quarterfinal, Sloane Stephens wanted to track down her good friend Madison Keys, who advanced in straight sets earlier Tuesday.
“I just have to go find her, because I need to tell her some juicy stuff,” Stephens said, declining to reveal the topic. “I just went and searched for her in the training room.”
They’ll see each other again soon. The two young Americans, who are both based in Florida, will face each other in the semifinals at Roland Garros on Thursday, nine months after Stephens beat Keys for the U.S. Open championship. It is the first French Open semifinal between a pair of women from the United States since Serena Williams beat Jennifer Capriati on the way to the 2002 title.
“That means one American will be in the final of a French Open, which is another amazing thing,” Stephens said. “All in all, I don’t think anyone can complain.”
It came on a day when the men’s quarterfinals featured the stunning upset of 12-time major champion Novak Djokovic by Marco Cecchinato of Sicily, who had never won a Grand Slam match until last week and once faced a possible ban for losing on purpose.
Djokovic, bothered by neck and leg problems, went from two sets down to the verge of forcing a
fifth, but he frittered away good chances and in the end was beaten by the 72nd-ranked Cecchinato 6-3, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 7-6 (11) in a rollicking match filled with engaging exchanges and plenty of drama.
“A hard one to swallow,” a glum Djokovic said during a brief news conference, in which he delivered clipped answers and said he might not play during the upcoming grass-court season.
Cecchinato is the lowest-ranked French Open semifinalist in 19 years and the first Italian man to make it that far at any major in 40 years.
“The best moment of my life,” Cecchinato said.
Djokovic served for the fourth set at 5-3, but the 2016 French Open champion was broken. Djokovic then held three set points in the tiebreaker but couldn’t convert.
Both Stephens and Keys were appearing in the women’s quarterfinals on the red clay of Paris for the first time, and both handled the occasion well. First, at Court Suzanne Lenglen, the 13th-seeded Keys remained focused during a 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory over 98thranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, never wavering when she fell behind in the opening set or when her volatile opponent could have become a distraction.
Keys built a whopping 3012 edge in winners and won 84 percent of her first-serve points.
“Keep on playing like that,” Putintseva said, “she can go all the way here.”
Later, at Court Philippe Chatrier, Stephens was hardly troubled while beating No. 14 Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-3, 6-1 in a mere 70 minutes.
“She was better than me today,” Kasatkina said. “She was moving unbelievable.”
The quarterfinals on the other side of the draw are today, involving four women who have spent time at No. 1: Simona Halep, who currently leads the WTA rankings, against No. 12 seed Angelique Kerber, and No. 3 Garbine Muguruza
against No. 28 Maria Sharapova.
Halep is a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, including in Paris in 2014 and last year; Kerber is a two-time major champ elsewhere; Muguruza won the French Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2017; and Sharapova owns five Grand Slam titles, including two at Roland Garros in 2012 and 2014.
Stephens, 23, and Keys, 25, could quickly approach that sort of status if they maintain the form they’ve shown lately.
Their matchup provides a contrast in styles: Keys is a big hitter whose serves and forehands are the keys to her success; Stephens covers every inch of the court as well as anyone.
Stephens has won both head-to-head encounters, including the Grand Slam final debut for each at New York in September.
“Honestly,” Keys said, “the [U.S.] Open feels like it was 12 years ago, at this point. I obviously rely on what I learned there and how to manage my emotions and manage the moment.”
Now one will get to play in her second major title match.
Until the moment they step into the main stadium at Roland Garros for Thursday’s semifinal, both promised, there will be no awkwardness between them.
“Everything will be normal,” Stephens said. “And then when we get on the court, it’s time to compete. It’s go time. Until then, we’re the same girls, as always.”