NEW YORK – Madison Keys was one of four Americans in the U.S. Open women’s singles semifinals a year ago, when she was the runner-up.
She’s the only member of the quartet who made it back to the final four.
Still in search of her first Grand Slam title, the 14th-seeded Keys reached her third semifinal in the past five majors by using her big-strike game built on serves and forehands to overpower No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-3 at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday night.
Keys, 23, thinks she is more equipped than ever to deal with big moments on important stages.
“I’ve gotten a lot better managing my emotions once it gets to this part and knowing that everything is going to be probably more amped up,” she said. “And not shying away from those, but just really being honest about it and talking about it.”
Keys won all 10 of her service games, saving the only two break points she faced. One came in the last game as she served for the victory, but she erased it with a forehand winner, part of a 22-10 edge in that category.
It all took less than 1 1/2 hours against Suarez Navarro, a Spaniard who eliminated five-time major champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets in her previous match but has never made it to the semifinals at a major. Keys is that far for the fourth time in her career.
In 2017, Keys was beaten by Sloane Stephens in the U.S. Open final; CoCo Vandeweghe and Venus Williams were the other semifinalists, making it the first time in 36 years the last four women in New York represented the host country.
This time, Keys will play No. 20 Naomi Osaka tonight for a chance to reach the final again. The other women’s semifinal is 23-time major champion Serena Williams against No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
Osaka was an easy winner in her quarterfinal, eliminating unseeded Lesia Tsurenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1 in all of 57 minutes.
With Kei Nishikori defeating 2014 champ Marin Cilic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4 in a rematch of the final four years ago at Flushing Meadows, Osaka and Nishikori give Japan semifinalists in both men’s and women’s singles at the same Grand Slam tournament for the first time in tennis history.
“It’s great to see,” said Nishikori, who will play 13-time major champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals Friday, with top-ranked Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro in the other semifinal.
Nishikori is into his third major semifinal – all in New York – but is still in search of his initial Grand Slam trophy.
For Osaka, who is 20, this is her first trip past the fourth round at a major.
Strong at the baseline, she has learned to control her strokes with the coaching help of Sascha Bajin, who used to be Serena Williams’ hitting partner.
“I believe that they kind of want to play the same, you know. They are very powerful. Big serves. Big hitters, both of them,” Bajin said. “But even on court, Serena is very aggressive, you know, and Naomi – I have to push her to get a fist pump out of her.”
Serena will face Anastasija Sevastova in the other women’s semifinal tonight.
Djokovic managed to do what Roger Federer could not two nights earlier: beat 55th-ranked John Millman at the U.S. Open.
Djokovic moved a step closer to a third championship at Flushing Meadows and 14th Grand Slam title overall by eliminating Millman 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to get to the tournament’s semifinals for an 11th appearance in a row. He sat out last year because of an injured right elbow.
The No. 6-seeded Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in July, had been drawn to face Federer in the quarterfinals. But Millman scuttled that showdown by stunning the 20-time Grand Slam champ in four sets in the fourth round on a hot and humid evening that Federer said sapped his energy and made it hard to breathe.
This night was cooler, as the temperature dipped into the 70s, but the humidity was above 80 percent, so with Millman drenched, he sought permission for a wardrobe change at 2-all in the second set. It was odd enough to see a player be allowed to do that during, instead of after, a set, but even odder for it to happen after an even number of games, rather than at an odd-game changeover.
“I was struggling. He was struggling. We were all sweating. Changing a lot of T-shirts, shorts,” Djokovic said. “Just trying to find a way to hang in there.”
When Millman apologized for leaving the court at that juncture, Djokovic replied, “I’m fine to have a little rest,” then sat down on his sideline bench without a shirt on and cooled off.