Friends like these: Stephens and Keys face off again

Elimination of the variables – that’s what the years of training for elite tennis are all about, so that no matter how big the match or whom the opponent, years of practice and experience mean that nothing can cause a player’s game to waver.

Good friends Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys faced that test at last year’s US Open – and the latter was found wanting. Stephens’ wonderful triumph completed an astonishing post-injury story arc which saw her go from world No.957 to Grand Slam champion inside six weeks. But for Keys, even allowing for her own wrist problems at the time, a yield from that match of just three games was not the stuff of dreams.

Now, eight months after that debut Slam final for both players, they meet again in the last four at Roland-Garros. Away from the spotlit frenzy created by two home players in the deciding match of their domestic Slam, this will surely produce a superior contest.

For both women, hard court is seen as their natural platform. But Keys, seeded 13 here, is declaring new-found affection for the red dirt, and has not dropped a set in her progress so far; that defeat at Flushing Meadows, unhappy as it was, will have delivered a ton of informational learning. Meanwhile, Stephens – the No.10 seed here – leads their career meetings 2-0, and is displaying capabilities on clay which have observers wondering if it isn’t this surface, rather than hard, on which her game may reach full bloom.

So a different time and a different surface – but the one factor which remains unchanged between Flushing Meadows last September and Roland-Garros 2018 is the players’ friendship. Each laughed outright at the idea of some dark mood descending between them ahead of their semi.

“No, we won't have to walk around each other in the locker room,” smiled Keys, 23. “That would just be weird and awkward.”

"Everything will be normal,” confirmed 25-year-old Stephens. “We’re the same as always. And then when we get on the court, it's time to compete.”

And nothing could be more normal than that.

So unlike last September, Roland-Garros is set to stage the true contest between these players. Neither the occasion nor their friendship can be a factor in their individual quest to find their best tennis, and a place in the final along with it.

Buckle up. This one could be a extremely memorable.