The perpetual hand-wringing over the future of American women’s tennis can take pause, at least for a few days. The false dawns of the past decade have given way to hard-won dividends and the best could be yet to come.
When Madison Keys pounded a backhand winner down the line at 11.41pm on Monday night to punctuate a gritty 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-4 comeback win over No4 seed Elina Svitolina, the 22-year-old gave the United States four women in the US Open quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years – and none of them are named Serena.
The 15th-seeded Keys joined No9 Venus Williams, No20 CoCo Vandeweghe and unseeded Sloane Stephens in the last eight at Flushing Meadows. All four have come out of separate quarters of the draw, creating the opportunity for the first all-American semi-final twinbill at any grand slam since Wimbledon in 1985, when Martina Navratilova defeated Zina Garrison and Chris Evert saw off Kathy Rinaldi.
“I think it shows how hard we’ve been working,” Keys said. “I think it’s just really exciting. I’m really happy that none of us are playing each other in the quarter-finals.”
On Tuesday, Stephens faces No16 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the afternoon, while Williams meets No13 Petra Kvitova in a night-session blockbuster. Then on Wednesday, Keys takes on 418th-ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, while Vandeweghe looks to upend top-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
“I’ve played on a Fed Cup team with all of them, including Venus,” Keys said. “I was at the Olympics with all of them. So I think we’re all cheering for each other. To see Sloane coming back from a long injury, having to have surgery. I mean, CoCo is always a force to be reckoned with. I don’t think anyone is totally surprised about that. Venus has made two slam finals.
“I’m not really surprised that anyone got this far, but I think we’re all cheering for each other, excited that there’s four of us in the quarters.”
Keys’ run to her first ever US Open quarter-final has been especially gratifying after an injury dogged the aftermath to a breakthrough 2016 season that saw her climb from No25 to No8 in the world. After playing through debilitating pain through most of the year, she underwent a pair of wrist surgeries before coming back to win the title at Stanford. She’s survived the wildly unpredictable scheduling typical of Flushing Meadows – including a third-round match that finished at 1.45am – and on Monday overcame a malfunctioning backhand and a 4-2 deficit in the decider to book a place in the quarters.
Perseverance seems to be a common thread among the Americans left in the field.
Stephens, 24, was still a teenager when she first made the second week of a grand slam at the US Open in 2012. She followed it up with runs to the Australian semis, the French Open fourth round and Wimbledon quarters the following season, soaring to No11 in the world. But a dip in form ensued, followed by a season-ending stress fracture last year that required surgery and a 10-month layoff, including nearly four months off her feet.
Now the Florida native has won 12 of her last 14 matches entering Tuesday’s quarter-final clash with Sevastova, who saw off presumptive comeback queen Maria Sharapova over the weekend.
“Just being able to be pain-free, just being on the court again,” Stephens said after Sunday’s fourth-round win over Julia Goerges. “Obviously when I couldn’t play, I literally couldn’t even go on the court, stand and hit a ball. I had to sit down and all that stuff. Now that I’m running around and sweating, my ponytail is flying, these are all such great things. I’m just happy to be running around and competing again.”
Vandeweghe, 25, had struggled with both fitness and the grind of the tour in previous seasons and had never made it past the second round at Flushing Meadows in eight previous appearances. Yet the fiery baseliner appears to have mastered both – and her sometimes-combustible temperament – surviving a series of marathon matches before seeing off Safarova, a former top-five player who had won their three most recent meetings.
Then there’s the 37-year-old Williams, who was was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease six years ago that cast major doubt on her tennis future. Yet the lone remaining former US Open champion in the field and the oldest woman in the top 300 has made the second week at a seventh consecutive major – and remains the only woman to play in two major finals this year.
Incredibly, Williams was part of the contingent the last time the United States sent as many players to the US Open quarter-finals, when she joined Serena, Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport, who now coaches Keys. Back then she was the reigning champion, ultimately ceding her title to Serena in the last all-American final at Flushing Meadows.
“I think success breeds success,” Williams said after Sunday’s fourth-round win. If you win, you learn how to win, and you win more. But I’m firmly a person that lives in the future. I don’t get nervous or tight because I have to defend points or because I won a tournament last year. I don’t care about the last year. I’m about, ‘Is this win happening today?’”
