Stephens downs Keys again to reach French Open final

Stephens downs Keys again to reach French Open final

by Joseph Anthony
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Sloane Stephens of the U.S. celebrates winning her semi final match against Madison Keys of the U.S.

Sloane Stephens maintained her perfect record against fellow American Madison Keys as she blazed into the French Open final with a 6-4 6-4 win on Thursday in a repeat of last yearโ€™s U.S. Open final.

In the first all-American Roland Garros semi-final since 2002, the 10th-seeded Stephens stayed composed throughout as Keys, who has not won a set against her in three meetings, peppered the court with unforced errors.


Stephens, who had never gone past the fourth round in Paris, will take on twice French Open runner-up and world number one Simona Halep of Romania in Saturdayโ€™s final.

Regardless of the result, the 25-year-old Stephens will become the first American to break into the top five in the WTA rankings since Lindsay Davenport โ€“ Keysโ€™s coach โ€“ in 2006.

โ€œItโ€™s always hard to play someone from your country and such a good friend, but Iโ€™m happy I played my tennis,โ€ Stephens said.

โ€œThis is one of my favourite tournaments and Iโ€™m looking forward to Saturday. Merci Paris, je tโ€™aime.โ€

After a timid start, Stephens found her rhythm and took control of the opening set by breaking in the third game with a forehand winner down the line.

But Keys, who made 23 unforced errors in the first set, hit back hard and set up a break point at 3-2, only for Stephens to save it with a service return winner.

Stephens continued to dominate and broke in the first and seventh games of the second set to put herself in a position to serve for the match.

Keys briefly rallied to pull one break back, but Stephens did not waste her second opportunity, sealing victory on her first match point with a glorious backhand winner down the line.

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