By Chris Oddo | Thursday September 7, 2017
Madison Keys defeated CoCo Vandeweghe for the third time this summer to reach her maiden Grand Slam final at the U.S Open.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
The all-American women’s singles final at the 2017 U.S. Open is set, and youth has been served. 22-year-old Madison Keys booked her spot in her first career major final with an imperious 6-1, 6-2 takedown of CoCo Vandeweghe on Thursday evening at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
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Keys will face 24-year-old Sloane Stephens, who defeated Venus Williams in Thursday night’s first semifinal in New York, in the final.
The fifteenth-seeded American won for the third time in three matches this summer against Vandeweghe in what was her most impressive performance of the tournament. Keys hammered 25 winners against 9 unforced errors and did not face a break point over the course of the 66-minute encounter.
Vandeweghe, playing in her second major semifinal of the season, held serve three times: once in the sixth game of the first set, once in the second game of the second set and for the last time to close to within 2-5 in the second set.
Keys won more than half of her return points (27 of 51) and broke serve four times on seven opportunities.
The only problem that the No.16-ranked Keys encountered was a physical one. She left the court whilst leading 4-1 in the second set to have her right thigh taped but returned in the same dominant form that she held when she left.
She downplayed the significance of the injury on court in a post-match interview with Tom Rinaldi.
Keys and Stephens will square off in the first all-American U.S. Open women’s final at the U.S. Open since 2002.
The pair have taken similar paths to this year's final in multiple ways. Both players reached their first Grand Slam semifinal at the age of 19 in Australia (Stephens in 2013 and Keys in 2015) and both failed to produce consistent results in the years that followed. Keys (two surgeries on her left wrist) and Stephens (a left foot surgery) are both on the comeback trail after enduring significant injuries this season.
The pair have only met once at the tour-level with Stephens taking a straight-sets decision from Keys in Miami in 2015.