Keys and Stephens maintain friendship on the biggest stage

While some players try to avoid friendships on tour, American compatriots Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys don’t shy away from showing off their camaraderie.

The two have put their relationship to the test on the biggest of stages, facing off in last year’s US Open final and Thursday's French Open semifinal.

Ahead of their French Open semifinal, Stephens was immediately looking for her Keys, who had won earlier.

"When we get on the court, it's time to compete. But before that, we are not going to be weird and awkward and make it, like, weird for each other," Stephens said. "Now I just have to go find her, because I need to tell her some juicy stuff. I just went and searched for her in the training room."

Stephens is two years older than Keys, and ranked a few spots higher. She also holds a 3-0 record against the 23-year-old.

Keys, who suffered a lopsided loss in the final in New York, agreed that heir friendship would remain the same regardless of their showdowns.

"We don't really have boundaries. I don't think that's going to change,"s he said. " Yeah, I mean, that's never really stopped us before, so I don't think we're going to have that issue."

With a spot in a second major final on the line for both players on Thursday, Stephens’ impressive play prevailed, 6-4, 6-4.

"It's not easy. It's never easy playing someone from your country, let alone someone you actually, like, care about and you're friends with," Stephens said. "It's very difficult. I think more when I do play Madi, it's just —on the court it's very competitive. We are always very competitive."

"But it's a little weird," she added. "There's not as much, ‘Come ons’ and things like that. We have a lot of respect for each other."

Despite the disappointing loss, Keys echoed Stephens' sentiments:

“It's the third time we have played. It was obviously a different stage, but still high stakes," she said. "It's always going to be more difficult, but also great at the same time. Hopefully we can have many more."

While Keys’ Parisian run came to an end, Stephens will have a shot at a second Grand Slam title when she takes the court against top seed Simona Halep in the final on Saturday.

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