Sloane Stephens powers past Daria Kasatkina to unlock all-American semi-final

ByEurosport

Updated 05/06/2018 at 19:45 GMT

Sloane Stephens set up a French Open semi-final showdown against fellow-American Madison Keys after comfortably overcoming wily Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-3 6-1 on Tuesday.

The 10th seed, who beat Keys to win the U.S. Open last year, showed impressive patience in some cat-and-mouse exchanges and eventually overpowered the 21-year-old with her bigger game.

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Stephens needed 42 minutes to win a first set full of long baseline rallies, but was unstoppable in the second set as Kasatkina's game began to crack.

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Sloane Stephens and Daria Kasatkina at Roland Garros

Image credit: Getty Images

"This is really exciting for American tennis and I'm really excited to play my really good friend," she said on court.

Highlights: Stephens overcomes Kasatkina

The 25-year-old had never got beyond the last 16 of the French Open until this year.

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