An All-American final four at the US Open

CoCo Vandeweghe then shocked world number one Karolina Pliskova earlier on Wednesday, before Keys produced a ruthless thumping of Kanepi to reach her first grand slam semi-final since the 2015 Australian Open.

“I texted Lindsay to have a speech ready for when I got here”, Keys said.

“For myself, I mean, it’s really nice to have an all-American semi on one side, because for sure there is going to be an American in the final. They all motivated me to be the next great American coming up and let’s make it four for four”. “I can’t tell you how many times I have sat in this chair and had to hear, you know, how awful tennis is in America”.

The Americans hadn’t had all four semifinalists at the U.S. Open since 1981, when Tracy Austin beat Martina Navratilova for the title.

Serena Williams’ absence has not stopped America’s women from enjoying their most successful US Open for 15 years.

This was Keys’ first quarterfinal appearance. Stephens, Keys and Vandeweghe will be trying to reach their first career Grand Slam final. Williams at her peak probably beats Stephens at her peak, but she also probably faces the most pressure among the USA quartet.

She’ll need it to overcome Keys, who has a better lifetime U.S. Open record (13-5 vs. 9-8) and an overall better Grand Slam record (43-20 vs. 30-27), and is also brimming with confidence after rallying from a break down to defeat No.4-seeded Elina Svitolina in the round of 16.

And, she’s riding high after an emotional win over a very in-form Petra Kvitova.

CoCo Vandeweghe reached her first U.S. Open quarterfinal by beating Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-6 (2). I’m really happy that none of us are playing each other. “At 16 I thought it would be overnight, but it is a process”.

“My best asset today was making her continually play on her service games”.

Yet she still recalls her family emphasizing John Wooden’s pyramid of success, still remembers her grandfather telling her to take care of the details like smoothing out her socks before playing.

Two-time champion Venus Williams is the only one of the four to win a Grand Slam title, but her last victory in NY came in 2001 when she defended the title she won in 2000. “And I’m gonna try to take it”, she said this week. If nothing else, Vandeweghe remains confident in spite of her 0-2 mark against Keys.

Vandeweghe started the match superbly, claiming a deserved break in the third game, but the 20th seed was forced to save a set point in the 10th game before moving ahead in a tie-break.

“I think it shows how hard we’ve been working”, Keys said.