Stop questioning U.S tennis, says finalist Stephens

NEW YORK — For the first time since 1981, four American women contested the US Open semifinals. That fierce foursome feat has only been accomplished at the majors five times, and it hasn't happened since Wimbledon in 1985.

American tennis has been under fire for years, particularly on the men's side. With Andy Roddick the last men's major champion (back in 2003), and Serena Williams cleaning up at the majors, "who is the next great American champion?" has been a question played over and over again like a broken record. In Serena's absence, women's American tennis has been doing just fine.

CoCo Vandeweghe, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams have carried the torch proudly, especially this fortnight in New York. On Thursday night, Vandeweghe was contesting her second major semifinal of the season, while Williams was playing in her third.

"I think that we are doing great. And American tennis is headed in the right direction, men and women. Sam Querrey is in the quarters. That's also great," Stephens said.

That was before she reached the final with a 6-1, 0-6, 7-5 win over 37-year-old Williams. She's taken an even stronger stance for the stars and stripes since.

"I just don't want anyone to ever ask me about the state of American tennis ever again," she said. "It's like I said before on the court, the proof is in the pudding. So we don't ever need, I don't think, to discuss the state of American tennis.

"I don't think anyone should ever, at least for not, like, ten years, they shouldn't question it."

On top of the Grand Slam success, the United States is also in the Fed Cup final and will face Belarus in November. Team captain Kathi Rinaldi will certainly have a lot of options to choose from.

There are 14 American women in the Top 100, and while that double digit number has been a mainstay for a while, a non-Serena U.S. Grand Slam champion hasn't. In fact, the last time an American woman not named Serena won a major was Venus Williams in 2008, and the last non-Williams champion was Jennifer Capriati in 2002. That will all change soon enough.

"It's been a great two weeks for American tennis. Seeing all the American players in the draw and all of them advancing so deep and competing so well," Venus Williams said. "All I have known all my life was great American players. So it's great to see this resurgence, and I hope it can continue."

First-time finalists Keys and Stephens are set to clash at 4 p.m. on Saturday.