Sloane Stephens, who missed 11 months with a left foot injury before returning in July, reached her first grand slam final by outlasting Venus Williams 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 Thursday at the US Open.
Stephens, whose best prior slam run was to the 2013 Australian Open semi-finals, will play the winner of a later match between US compatriots CoCo Vandeweghe and Madison Keys on Saturday for a top prize of US$3.7 million.
“I just worked my tail off and tried to run every ball down and here we are,” Stephens said. “It required a lot of fight and a lot of grit.”
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Stephens, who was ranked 957th in July when her hardcourt campaign began, has won 14 of her past 16 matches, including semi-final runs at Toronto and Cincinnati, for a total of $310,000 this season.
Ousting a seven-time grand slam champion who was seeking her first US Open final since 2002 left Stephens stunned.
Williams reacts during her loss to Stephens. She made 51 unforced errors in the match. Photo: USA Today
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“I have no words to describe what I’m feeling, what it took to get here, the journey I’ve been on,” Stephens said.
