NEW YORK—Quiet, please. Those two words from the chair umpire’s mouth on Thursday night were fruitless when Americans Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams clashed in the first semifinal of the evening. With a home-nation champion already guaranteed, partying could be expected.
Stephens would end up the queen of the first revelry, winning a roller-coaster 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 battle over the world No. 9.
“I have no words to describe what I’m feeling, what it took to get here, just the journey I’ve been on,” Stephens said. “I just have no words.”
Stephens had the first set wrapped up before anyone could even finish their first Honey Deuce cocktail. But then it was like the two traded places, as Williams stopped missing wildly—lowering her 17 unforced errors from the first set to eight in the second—and won six games in a row. The first two sets took just 54 minutes. The match was being dictated by Williams’ racquet as Stephens remained solid, and patient, throughout.
With the win, Stephens is now 18-2 since the tournament in Washington, D.C.