NEW YORK – Sloane Stephens is into her first major final, defeating No. 9-seed Venus Williams 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 in two hours and seven minutes in the U.S. Open semifinals on Thursday.
Fans were barely arriving to their seats with hot dogs and Honey Deuces when Stephens jumped out to a quick lead and grabbed a stranglehold on the opening set. Stephens stunned Williams—and the Arthur Ashe crowd—by winning the opening set after just 24 minutes in squeaky-clean fashion. Williams finished the first set with five winners and 15 unforced errors, as she seemed to be going for too much too early on her shots, while Stephens’ hit six winners to just five unforced errors to open the match.