adminNEW YORK. — Serena Williams and Ekaterina Makarova sprinted into the semi-finals of the US Open on Wednesday, while world No 1 Novak Djokovic and marathon man Kei Nishikori were forced to take the long road into the last four.Having already played the longest match of the tournament in the fourth round, a bruising four-hour 19-minute battle with Canadian Milos Raonic, Nishikori had enough left in the tank to get past third seed Stan Wawrinka 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7) 6-7 (5) 6-4 in a four-hour 15-minute test of wills to become the first Japanese man into the last four of a grand slam in 81 years.
Bidding to reach the Flushing Meadows final for a fifth straight year, Djokovic did not need five sets to tame a valiant Andy Murray 7-6 (1) 6-7 (1) 6-2 6-4 but the big Serb did have to dig deep to see off his long-time rival who was in obvious distress at the end of what had been a wildly enthralling stadium court encounter.
While Murray and Djokovic battled their way through a 73 minute opening set, 32-year-old Williams needed just 63 minutes in total on a sultry evening to breeze past Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3 6-2 and become the oldest player to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows since Martina Navratilova in 1991.
Russian left-hander Makarova, who will take on Williams for a spot in Sunday’s final, made her best mark in grand slam singles by outslugging Victoria Azarenka, the US Open runner-up the last two years, 6-4 6-2 in a snappy 87 minutes.
“I think we played a very physical match in the first two hours,” Djokovic said. “I am very glad to get through to another semifinal. We both gave our best. At times, the tennis was not that nice, we made a lot of unforced errors but that’s due to a very physical battle we had in the first two sets.
“I knew coming into the match that he was going to go for his shots and the one who was the most aggressive would win. I am glad I managed to stay fit in the end and pull through.”
Next up for Djokovic will be the tireless Nishikori who is turning into the Flushing Meadows ironman having clocked up eight hours and 34 over his last two matches.
“I don’t know how I finished the game, but I’m happy,” an exhausted Nishikori, who had a medical timeout in the third set to have his right foot taped, Nishikori told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd.
“I feel amazing. I’m very happy to come to my first semi. I hope I can recover again and hopefully I can play 100 percent tennis next round.”
Williams sleepwalked through the start of her quarterfinal with Pennetta as the 11th seeded Italian broke twice on the way to a shock 3-0 lead.
“It feels so special to be back in the semi-finals for the first time this year,” Williams, yet to lose more than three games in any set this championship, told the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. “It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m so happy to have done it here.” — Reuters
Online Reporter