“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” wrote Charles Dickens in the historical novel A Tale of Two Cities. The last two weeks at the U.S. Open were by no means a scene in a Victorian novel, yet the implications of Dickens’ tale apply nonetheless. On the women’s side, a star was born: Sloane Stephens. She won her first Grand Slam title and entered the tournament unseeded. On the men’s side, one of the four usual suspects (The Big Four) reigned supreme: Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard won his 16th Grand Slam overall and his third championship at the Open. And while Stephens broke through and Nadal did what Nadal does, win another Grand Slam, other players resurrected their careers in front of millions who either visited the Billy …show more content…
The semifinals featured an all-American lineup: veteran and leader of the pack, 37-year-old and seeded No. 9 Venus Williams; No. 20 seed Coco Vandeweghe; Keys, the 15th seed; and Stephens, the lone unseeded player. It was the first time in 32 years that four American women reached the semifinals of a major. “Even though we’re out here individually, it’s really a team sport,” Vandeweghe told fans inside Ashe after advancing to the semifinals.” Keys took out Vandeweghe in a lopsided encounter that the tall Californian would rather forget. Keys, though, was all smiles. The match was one of her best. Stephens’ dismissal of Venus Williams, though, tugged at the hearts of fans. Had she had a pint more of energy, the scoreline might have been different. "I'm super happy to be in a Grand Slam final," Stephens said in her post-match press conference after defeating Williams in three sets. "To do it here, obviously, my home slam, is obviously more special. I think this is what every player dreams about. Fortunately but unfortunately, I had to play Venus, but having four Americans in the semifinals, I think that says a lot about American tennis and where we are right