US Open champion Sloane Stephens is through to the last four at the ongoing French Open tournament after she defeated Daria Kasatkina of Russia in their quarter-final clash.

Stephens defeated second seed Caroline Wozniacki’s conqueror in the last round 6-3 6-1 to setup a last four meeting with Madison Keys

Keys go the better of unseeded Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to also reach the last four of the French Open for the first time just like her compatriot Stephens.

Their semi-final clash would be the first All-American duel for 16 years (since 2002).

While looking forward to playing Keys on Thursday, Stephens said: “I’m excited to play my good friend in the semi-finals, we’ve already played in the US Open final and it’s really good for American tennis.”

On her own part, Keys said that losing to Sloane Stephens at last year’s US Open feels like it was 12 years ago.

She said: “Honestly, the (US) Open feels like it was 12 years ago at this point.”

“I obviously rely on what I learned there and how to manage my emotions and manage the moment, but there were so many late nights and I was so tired. It feels completely different here.

“I have actually been told quite often that I’ll never win or do well because I’m too nice a person and I just don’t have it.

“I think that’s a load of rubbish, but, you know, it’s just me.

“I don’t think you have to be mean in order to win matches.” she concluded.