U.S. Open Tennis: American Women's Program- Alive and Well .. and Winning.

Four Americans Made the Singles Semis

  • Saturday, September 9, 2017
  • B.B Branton

Two weeks ago the average tennis and sports fan knew of the Venus Williams legacy but not of the net talents of the young trio of Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and CoCo Vandeweghe.

Today, the young guns - all under 26 - have given the city which never sleeps reason to sit up and take notice as American women's tennis is alive and well.

"Actually, the U.S. women's program has been consistantly strong for several years, but with the Williams sisters so dominant it could appear to the average fan that they were the only two great players," said Ned Caswell who is the tennis director at Baylor School and general manager at  Manker Patten.

In January, both Keys and Stephens were sidelined by injuries.

Today, the duo are hours away from the most important match of their careers as they play tonight on center court and center stage for the U.S. Open singles title.

* New York Heroes .. While the people of the Big Apple love their heroes,  Keys and unranked Stephens meet in an all red, white and blue, flag-waving American singles final and have pushed the New York legends to one side for at least a September fortnight - Ruth and Gehrig to "Mickey, Willie and the Duke" plus gridiron greats Conley, Gifford and Manning to hoop stars Reed and Frazier and more.

* The Fab Four: Keys, Stephens, Vandeweghe and Williams join an elite group of American women to all reach the U.S. Open semis. In 1979, it was Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Billy Jean King and Martina Navratilova with Austin edging Evert in the final ... in a near repeat two years later, Austin again stopped Evert (who won titles in 1980 and 1982) in the finals while Navratilova and Barbara Potter also made the semis.

"Regardless who wins Saturday, having four in the semis is great for American women's tennis," said Fairyland Club teaching pro, national champion and former UTC All-American,"  Sue Webb.

The Singles Finalists

** Sloane Stephens ..age (24) ...unseeded ... ranked 83rd in the world ..was 900 plus a only a few weeks  ago ... Better athlete and quicker than Madison .. has to be ready to run all night and play 3 sets and get a high percentage of her first serves in and return well on Keys serves ..

Best story line of the tourney, the unseeded Stephens has captured the hearts and interest of many young girls striving and dreaming of maybe one day playing center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium

U.S. Open Stephens Stats 5 wins ... straight set wins (2) .. 3 set wins (3l

tiebreaker (1-0) ... wins against seeded players ..Nos. 9, 11, 16 and 30

** Madison Keys ... age 22 ... No.15 seed... coach is 6 time (s/d) grand slam champion Lyndsay Davenport ... keys played a near flawless semis in beating no. 20 Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-2 ... If she repeats her semis effort she probably wins in straight sets ..but a 3- setter is more likely to happen.. if she gets high percentage of first serves in and is accurate on with her forehand she wins.

U.S. Open Keys Stats, 5 wins ... straight set wins (3) .. 3 set wins (2) .. tiebreaker (1-0)

Wins against seeded players: Nos. 4, 17 and 20

*American Tennis is Strong .. while Keys, Stephens and Vandeweghe grew up wanting to play and sometimes dress as the Williams sister did, now they and other young Americans pros find themselves in the spotlight and being watched and idolized by the next generation of players.

And hopefully the beat goes on.

Tourney Note: both finalists are African-American and the champion will be the 4th to win a U.S. Open singles titles following Althea Gibson, Serena Williams and Venus Williams

** Predictions: A handful of local players and teaching pros along with this reporter give their predicted winner and why (men's story and predictions posted Sunday)

* Meg Bandy: Winner- Sloane Stephens ...Keys played a near perfect match Thursday and might have peaked in the semis

* Claire Bartlett: Winner - Sloane Stephens ...she is moving well, playing the big points better and is more mentally tough.

* Cindy Kemp Battle (3x U.S. Open qualifier .) Winner - Madison Keys ...I think she has her head in the right place ... she is very upbeat and positive

* Chris Brown: Winner - Madison Keys ... she has more power and a much better serve ... will take advantage of Sloane's weaker serve

* B.B. Branton: Winner - Madison Keys ... doubtful she will play in a zone as she did in the straight set win against Vandeweghe in the semis, yet Keys has too many weapons with a big serve and forehand ... she is a slight favorite to beat a more athletic Stephens who must serve welll to win and some how keep Keys off balance ... the one who can control her emotions and stay focused should be the winner

* Wesley Cash: Winner - Madison Keys ...the key to winning come down to the one who can hold her nerves in check ... I was impressed with Sloane as she held her composure in the final set against Venus in the semis

* Ned Caswell: Winner - Sloane Stephens ... both players will be super nervous because it is their first opportunity to win a  grand slam title ... Sloane is much faster and plays much better defense than Madison ... I think it will be difficult for Madison to play great offense in such a monumental matc

* Zan Guerry: ( 6x U.S. Open qualifier) Winner - Madison Keys ... a slight edge to  Madison who has a bigger serve ... but Sloane gets so much credit for being unseeded and reaching the final.

* Pem Guerry: Winner - Madison Keys ... she is too strong

* Eric Voges: Winner - Madison Keys ...she is serving and returning well which will be too much for Sloane

* Jack Webb: Winner - Sloane Stephens ... appears to be ready to win a major ... looked positive again st Venus (Williams) in big points late in the semifinal match

* Sue Webb: Winner - Madison Keys ... it depends on who is returning best ... Keys in three sets.

*Jeff Clark: Winner- Madison Keys ... this is a Match-up of contrasting styles ..and Keys offense will be better than Stephens defense ...Stephens is a heavy baseliner, a counter puncher who moves extremely well around the court ... Keys relies on power with a big serve and big ground strokes off both wings ...

Stephens has the ability to frustrate her opponent by running down every ball as she did against Venus Williams in the semifinals ...which resulted in Venus going for too much and making critical unforced errors.

Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net 

 

 

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