US Open: Sloane Stephens beats Madison Keys to claim first Grand Slam title

At the end it was as if the two women had just won the doubles title at their local club. As preparations were made for the presentation ceremony, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys sat next to one another at the side of the court, laughing and chatting. It was hard to believe that only minutes earlier the two friends had contested the first Grand Slam final of their lives, Stephens winning 6-3, 6-0 in just 61 minutes to become one of the most unlikely champions in US Open history.

Only six weeks ago 24-year-old Stephens was ranked No 957 in the world as she began her comeback after 10 months out of the game because of foot surgery. Now the world No 83, she is the lowest ranked woman ever to win the title here, Kim Clijsters having been unranked when she won in 2009 in only her third tournament since starting her comeback after a two-year break from the game.

Since the world rankings were launched in 1975, the only lower ranked player to reach the final at any Grand Slam tournament was Chris O’Neil, who was world No 111 when she won the Australian Open in 1978.

Stephens, who will rise to No 17 in Monday’s updated rankings list, is only the fifth unseeded woman in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title. Clijsters and Flavia Pennetta, the 2015 champion, were the others.

In winning the title Stephens has won more matches than she had in her previous six Grand Slam tournaments combined. Her best result in six previous appearances in the main draw here was when she reached the fourth round four years ago.

“I should just retire now,” Stephens said at the presentation ceremony. “I told Maddie: ‘I’m never going to be able to top this.’ Talk about a comeback. I don’t know what to say. All I know is that after I had surgery, I worked super-hard to get back. I had the best attitude, I had the best team and things just started to come together in the last six weeks.

“It’s incredible. I had surgery on 23 January and if someone had told me then that I would win the US Open I would have said that was impossible, absolutely impossible.”

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An emotional Keys, who had shared a long embrace with Stephens at the end of the match, wiped away the tears to pay tribute to her opponent.

“Sloane is truly one of my favourite people and to get to play her was really special,” Keys said. “Obviously I didn’t play my best tennis today and I was disappointed, but Sloane being the opponent she was was very supportive. If there was someone I had to lose today I’m glad it was her.”

In truth the first all-American final here since Serena Williams beat her sister Venus in 2002 was a disappointing affair, especially given some of the excellent tennis that the two finalists had played over the last fortnight. Keys looked nervous throughout and never got into any sort of rhythm. The world No 16 made 30 unforced errors and failed to take any of her three break points.

Stephens, in contrast, appeared comfortable from the start and ran away with the match once she had broken to lead 3-2 in the first set. Keys had chances to get on the board in the second set when she served at 0-5, but it was appropriate that the match ended with the 22-year-old making errors on the last three points.

Stephens, who wins $3.7m (£2.84m) in prize money, was asked what the two women had talked about as they sat and chatted before the presentation ceremony. “Maddie is one of my bestest friends on tour, if not my best friend, and I wouldn’t have wanted to play anyone else here,” she said.

“For us both to be here is such a special moment. I told her I wished there could have been a draw because I wish we could both have won. I think if it was the other way round, she would do the same for me. I’m going to support her no matter what and I know she’s going to support me no matter what, so to stand with her today is incredible. That’s what real friendship is.”