Madison Keys through to French Open semi-finals where she will meet Sloane Stephens
Stephens leads head-to-head 2-0, including 6-3 6-0 US Open final victory last year
Tuesday 5 June 2018 17:02, UK
Madison Keys reached the French Open semi-finals for the first time in her career and will now face fellow American Sloane Stephens in a repeat of the US Open final.
Keys reached her maiden French Open semi-final, rallying from a break down in the opening set to claim a solid 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 victory against Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva, while Stephens brushed aside Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-1.
"Thank you everyone for coming and supporting me, I did need a lot of support today," said Keys. "In the first set, I just needed to focus more and trust my game.
"I'm obviously very happy to win in straight sets again and I look forward to the next match."
Last year's US Open runner-up is still hunting her first Grand Slam title and has now reached the last four at Roland Garros for the first time.
Putintseva, who beat Britain's Johanna Konta in the first round, grabbed the first break of serve but Keys hit straight back.
The American then took the tie-break, her power and accuracy eventually too much for Putintseva during a brutal set point.
Putintseva, from Kazakhstan, repeatedly had Keys scrambling at the net with her cute drop shots.
But Keys had the nous and consistency to keep the pressure on her opponent and broke in the seventh game of the second set before going on to win.
She next play fellow American Stephens, who produced a clinical performance to down Kasatkina, the conqueror of world No 2 Caroline Wozniacki, on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Stephens, who had never got beyond the last 16 of the French Open until this year, needed 42 minutes to win a first set full of long baseline rallies, but was unstoppable in the second set as Kasatkina's game began to crack.
"This is really exciting for American tennis and I'm really excited to play my really good friend," she said.
