For The First Time In 36 Years, All Four U.S. Open Women Semifinalists Are American
“We’re gonna have four American women playing tomorrow, and that’s pretty awesome,” No. 15 seed Madison Keys said after winning her quarterfinal match. “We all were rooting for each other today.”
Keys, 22, beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who had to make it through the qualifying tournament to make the main draw. She will play CoCo Vandeweghe, who beat world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova to make the finals.
In the other semifinal, two-time U.S. Open champion Venus Williams will play 24-year-old Sloane Stephens for a chance to play in the finals. Williams, 37, is the oldest woman in the tournament. She beat Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals.
The last time all four U.S. Open semifinalists were American was in 1981, when the players were Tracy Austin, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Barbara Potter.
Of note:
- CoCo Vandeweghe grew up in a family with many accomplished athletes: her grandfather Ernie and uncle Kiki played in the NBA, and her mother was an Olympic swimmer.
- Sloane Stephens’s mother, Sybil, was an All-American swimmer in college. And her father, John, was the No. 1 pick in the 1988 NFL draft, and the rookie of the year for the New England Patriots. Sloane didn’t play tennis for almost a year after having foot surgery last summer, but has been on a winning streak since July and her ranking has jumped almost 800 points. She is currently No. 83 in the world, and reached a career-high No. 11 in 2013.
- Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles: Wimbledon five times, and the U.S. Open twice. She won her first Wimbledon 17 years ago.
- Madison Keys has a forehand that has been clocked as faster than any other woman’s – and many men’s – on tour
These American women are guaranteed to make a combined $7.37 million this week
The U.S. Open will pay out a record total of over $50 million this year. The men’s and women’s singles winners will earn a record $3.7 million each. At the four Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open – men and women are paid equally.
Here’s a breakdown of the prize money:
Singles
- Winner: $3,700,000
- Runner-Up: $1,825,000
- Semifinalist: $920,000
- Quarterfinalist: $470,000
- Round of 16: $253,625
- Round of 32: $144,000
- Round of 64: $86,000
- Round of 128: $50,000
Doubles (per team)
- Winner: $675,000
- Runner-Up: $340,000
- Semifinalist: $160,000
- Quarterfinalist: $82,000
- Round of 16: $44,000
- Round of 32: $26,500
- Round of 64: $16,500
Source: marketwatch.com
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