For all the handwringing about the plight of American men’s tennis, there’s comparatively little discussion of the direction of the women’s game, where the state of affairs is far more encouraging.
Serena Williams’s successful return to Grand Slam play after childbirth, reaching the fourth round at Roland Garros before bowing out with an injury, is cause for optimism entering grass-court season, but even more heartening is the increasingly bright future of American women’s tennis, exemplified by Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys. Williams sisters they are not, but Stephens and Keys—finalists at last year’s U.S. Open, where Stephens won her maiden Grand Slam title—will meet for the second time in three majors on Thursday in semifinals of the French Open.