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2017 Year in Review: It's all-U.S.

in the US Open Semis

E.J. Crawford  |  December 14, 2017
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Love-15: As 2017 draws to a close, USTA.com is taking a look back at the top 15 storylines, headlines and highlights from the year in American tennis. Up now: The US Open semifinals feature four American women for the first time in more than 30 years.

 

The 2017 US Open women’s draw had a decidedly American flavor. 

 

For the first time at the US Open since 1981 – and at any Slam since 1985 – all four women’s singles semifinalists hailed from the U.S.: Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Coco Vandeweghe and Venus Williams.

 

The achievement was sealed on the Open’s second Wednesday, when Vandeweghe upset No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova to equal her best-ever Slam showing, and Keys blitzed qualifier Kaia Kanepi to do the same. The day before, both Stephens and Williams had advanced in dramatic third-set tiebreaks, over Anastasija Sevastova and Peta Kvitova, respectively.

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It was an undeniable accomplishment for Team USA. Four U.S. women had last reached the US Open’s penultimate round 36 years prior, when Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Barbara Potter all advanced, with Austin topping Navratilova for the title.

 

And the last time an American quartet advanced to the women’s semifinals of any Grand Slam came 32 years ago at Wimbledon. That year, Chris Evert, Zina Garrison, Martina Navratilova and Kathy Rinaldi all reached the semis, with co-No. 1 seeds Navratilova and Evert playing in a three-set final won by the lefty.

 

In 2017, it was Stephens who emerged as the victor, edging Venus in the semifinals and defeating Keys in the final for her first Grand Slam title.

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