Madison Keys has made it an all-American women’s final four at the US Open.
The No. 15 seed beat Kaia Kanepi 6-3 6-3 to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time.
She will face No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe on Thursday night in the second semifinal, after ninth-seeded Venus Williams meets unseeded Sloane Stephens.
It’s the first time four Americans have made the women’s semifinals at the US Open since 1981, when Tracy Austin beat Martina Navratilova for the title. Chris Evert and Barbara Potter also made the last four.
The last time it happened at any Grand Slam tournament was at Wimbledon in 1985, with Navratilova and Evert joined by Zina Garrison and Kathy Rinaldi.
The US Open will be guaranteed its first all-American final since Serena Williams beat sister Venus in 2002.
Vandeweghe, who is coached by Australia’s Pat Cash, eliminated No.1 Karolina Pliskova in the quarters which means Spaniard Garbine Muguruza will become world No.1 after the tournament.
Pliskova needed to at least match her achievement of last year by reaching the final to prevent Wimbledon champion Muguruza overtaking her.
She had a set point in the opener against Vandeweghe but could not take it and the 20th seed completed a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory to reach her second grand slam semi-final of the season.
“When I won this event as a junior I always dreamed about being here on the real stage,” the 25-year-old Vandeweghe said. “To come together this year, it is a process. I did expect it overnight when I was 16 but now here I am and I couldn’t wish for anything better.
“I watched the match last night with Venus and think she said it best. We have to admire Serena and Venus, Lindsay (Davenport), Jennifer (Capriati). They all motivated me to be the next great American coming up and let’s make it four for four.”
Pliskova was the only top-eight seed to make it through to the quarter-finals and looked to have hit her stride after shaky early performances.
Vandeweghe made the better start and moved into a 4-2 lead but two double faults gave the advantage back, the American smashing her racket in annoyance.
Pliskova had a set point at 5-4 but Vandeweghe produced a fine backhand to save it and she was the more consistent player in the tiebreak.
Both women are very strong servers so breaks were always likely to be at a premium.
It was Vandeweghe who secured the only one in the second set, breaking for 3-1, and she saved a break point in the final game before clinching victory when Pliskova netted a return.
