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By Chris Oddo | Tuesday August 29, 2017

 
Sloane Stephens

Sloane Stephens edged Anastasija Sevastova in three sets to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal in over four years.
 

The fairy tale run of Sloane Stephens continued on Tuesday in New York as the 24-year-old American rallied past Anastasija Sevastova from a break down in the third set to claim a hard-fought, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory.

More: Federer Cruises into U.S. Open Quarterfinals with Win over Kohlschreiber

The win places Stephens into her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2013, the year that she shocked the world by upsetting Serena Williams at the Australian Open.

There were many road bumps in the path for Stephens since that tremendous breakout in Australia, and she was dealt a difficult blow last year when an injury to her left foot stopped her momentum and eventually required surgery early this season.


Before Stephens suffered the injury there was evidence that she may be turning the corner as a player under coach Kamau Murray. She won three titles (increasing her career total to four) in 2016 and held a record of 23-10.

After rehabbing from surgery to her left foot all winter and spring, Stephens lost her first two matches after returning to the WTA tour this summer (at Wimbledon and the Citi Open) before quickly picking up momentum. Using a protected ranking she reached consecutive semifinals in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Make that three semifinals.

"It's incredible, amazing," an elated Stephens said after the match. "Like I said before, if someone would have told me when I started at Wimbledon that I'd be in the semifinals or making, well, three semifinals back to back, I would have said they're crazy. 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. So many positives, just to, like, take out of it for myself personally."

Stephens began her journey with a ranking of 954 in the world but the American is poised to reach inside the Top 40 with her semifinal performance—and Stephens could climb as high as No.15 in the world if she wins the title.


In her first meeting with Sevastova, Stephens capitalized on a slow start by the Latvian to take the opening set, but Sevastova began to find her game in the middle set and broke through for a 3-1 lead when Stephens committed a backhand error in the fourth game.

It was all Sevastova would need in the middle set. She did not face a break point and moved quickly ahead in the decider, breaking for 2-1 with a forehand winner, and consolidating for 3-1.

But Stephens brought the Arthur Ashe crowd back into it with a break for 3-all, and after another trade of breaks to take the pair to 4-all, there were four consecutive service holds to bring the match to a deciding-set tiebreaker.

Stephens held her ground, played conservatively, and won four of the final five points, clinching victory with a backhand winner at the two hour and 27-minute mark to improve her record in three-set matches to 7-0 on the season.


Sevastova, who has now reached back-to-back quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, gave all credit to her opponent after her near miss.

“She's playing great,” she said. “She had better nerves in the end. She played amazing points in the end. She deserves it. Really, respect for her.”

Stephens will move on to face the winner of tonight’s battle between No.9-seeded Venus Williams and No.13-seeded Petra Kvitova in the semifinal.

 

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