Venus Williams Celebrates “A Great Two Weeks For American Tennis”

Women’s singles quarter-finals – Sloane Stephens v Anastasija Sevastova (16) – Could the unseeded Stephens, who has already beaten two seeds, continue this superb run into uncharted territory?

It’s the first time that four American women have reached the semifinals at the US Open since 1981, when Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Barbara Potter did it.

Wednesday, they stayed unblemished, as CoCo Vandeweghe knocked off top seed Karolina Pliskova, who was unable to find the game that got her a couple wins from the title last season, and Madison Keys handily dispatched Kaia Kanepi.

Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens did their part.

Stephens said: “I’m getting teary-eyed”.

And the drama was topnotch as Stephens looked to be running out of energy in the middle of the second set.

I try to tell myself to enjoy the competition, enjoy the battle and I think I was able to do that.

It did not always seem like it on Tuesday, particularly during a fluctuating second set when Williams was unable to put away her 13th-seeded opponent, who had beaten her four times in five previous meetings.

In the men’s draw, Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta reached his first grand slam singles semi-final when he swatted aside Argentine Diego Schwartzman 6-4 6-4 6-2 in just under two hours.

CoCo Vandeweghe grew up in a family with many accomplished athletes: her grandfather Ernie and uncle Kiki played in the National Basketball Association, and her mother was an Olympic swimmer.

As Geneen McCauley watches such moments – Stephens played Serena Williams in the 2013 Australian Open quarterfinals, and Keys did likewise in the 2015 Australian Open semifinals – she reports a two-pronged thought process. I was able to play loose, play my game and – Bam! “Just happy to be playing really well and happy that my foot is good and I don’t have any pain and my body is holding up”, she said. The third set put Stephens in a unsafe position after she lost her serve. “I think my coach is probably crying”.

Williams and Stephens earned quarterfinal spots Sunday night, by defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain and Julia Gorges of Germany respectively, while Keys snagged her place by defeating Elina Svitolina from the Ukraine Monday night. So when she called and said the same thing, ‘Mom, I’m here, ‘ kind of a flashback.

“I think Venus and Serena [have led] the way and [been] tremendous role models, not just for American players but tennis in general”, said Kathy Rinaldi, captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team that will attempt to win its first title since 2000 against Belarus in Belarus in November. “Maybe I gave her the opportunity to play well”, Brady said.

The Root reported yesterday that Williams and Stephens will square off in tomorrow’s (September 7) semifinals match. Thos match meant a lot to me, obviously, playing at home and of course it being a major. Querrey has been performing well late into his career and with a depleted lower half of the bracket, he could well find himself in the finals.

“It’s just really exciting”, Keys, ranked No. 15 in the world, said about the chances of these three black stars facing one another.

“Man, I am hoping we can make it four, how awesome would that be”, said Stephens.