Unseeded Stephens storms into semifinals

NEW YORK • Sloane Stephens’ comeback from injury will keep going all the way to the U.S. Open semifinals.

Stephens edged No. 16 seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) on Tuesday to reach the final four of a major tournament for the first time since 2013.

Sidelined from tennis for nearly a year and unsure what she could accomplish just last month, the unseeded American advanced to face the winner of the match between Grand Slam champions Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova on Tuesday night.

Stephens had left foot surgery in January and didn’t return to the tour until Wimbledon until June. Her ranking fell to 934th before she reached consecutive semifinals at hard-court tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati in August.

“When I started my comeback at Wimbledon, I could have never even dreamed of something like this happening, having these results,” Stephens said.

The No. 9-seeded Williams hoped to give the Americans half the final four against No. 13 Kvitova, when she tried to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time since 2010. The U.S. had a chance to claim all four spots, with No. 15 Madison Keys and 20th-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe playing their quarter-final matches Wednesday.

The men did get a first-time semifinalist Tuesday when Pablo Carreno Busta beat No. 29 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

The 12th-seeded Spaniard easily handled his first match of the tournament against an opponent who was not a qualifier.

Now Carreno Busta will face No. 17 Sam Querrey of the U.S. or No. 28 Kevin Anderson of South Africa, who were scheduled to play Tuesday night.

None of those three men remaining on the bottom half of the draw has ever played in a major final. Sloane Stephens, left, shakes hands with Anastasija Sevastova after their quarterfinal match.