The past US Open marks a new beginning for American Women’s tennis. For the first time since 1981, all four semifinalists were American and three of them are under the age of 25. Venus Williams, 37, was the other finalist. In the first semifinal, Sloane Stephens who was unseeded at the tournament, beat 9th seed Venus Williams. In the second semifinal, 15th seed Madison Keys beat 20th seed Coco Vandeweghe.
The road to the finals for Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys had been long and difficult. Stephens was born in Florida and started tennis at the age of 9. She trained at the Evert Tennis Academy and later at the Nick Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy. She played her first WTA tournament in 2008 and entered the top 100 in 2011. She continually improved her game from there on. In 2016, she suffered an injury in her right foot. It took Stephens 11 months to recover. The US Open is the fourth tournament she’s played in since her return to tennis.
Madison Keys has a special place in our hearts. She was born in Rock Island and started tennis at a very young age. While in the Quad Cities, she was coached by the local tennis pros – some of those coaches currently coach our varsity players. Recognizing her talent, her parents relocated to Florida where she also trained at the Evert Tennis Academy.
Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens have known each other for a very long time and followed similar successes at the same time. When they played in the finals of the US Open, Keys wasn’t on top of her game. Keys couldn’t hold serve and she had 30 unforced errors compared to 6 that Sloane Stephens had. Sloane won 6-3, 6-0 in the final. No matter the result, one thing is clear. A game that was long dominated by the Williams sisters is starting to see a new wave of upcoming talent.
