The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2. Stephens moves to semis
Win over Kvitova earns first semifinal at Open since 2010.
Sloane Stephens reaches her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2013 by beating 16thseeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4) at the U.S. Open. Stephens was one of four American women in the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows, the most since five made it 15 years ago.
NEW YORK — Venus Williams continued her remarkable renaissance by returning to the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time since 2010.
Williams reached her third major semifinal of the season — something she last did 15 years ago — by edging two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (2) Tuesday night to a soundtrack of thunderous partisan support at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 37-year-old Williams, who won titles at Flushing Meadows way back in 2000 and 2001, trailed 3-1 in the third set before digging out of the hole with a little help: Kvitova’s eighth double-fault handed over the break that made it 3-all. Kvitova’s ninth double-fault gave Williams her initial match point in the tiebreaker.
Kvitova, seeded 13th, was hoping to prolong her comeback from a knife attack less than nine months ago by reaching the first U.S. Open semifinal of her career. She needed surgery on her racket-holding hand after she was cut by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic in December. She returned to the tour at the French Open in May.
Kvitova has said she still does not have full strength in her left hand. But she was often at her powerful best against No. 9 Williams, especially in the last two sets, repeatedly delivering big, flat forehands. Neither woman played with a ton of subtlety, mainly trading stinging groundstrokes in the 2-hour, 34-minute battle.
Williams, who revealed in 2011 she had been diagnosed with an energy-sapping autoimmune disease, is the oldest women’s semifinalist at any Grand Slam tournament since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.
But this sort of throwback run is becoming almost routine for Williams, who made it to the Australian Open final in January of this year, then the Wimbledon final in July.
She will face Sloane Stephens on Thursday in the first all-American women’s semifinal in New York since 2002. Coming back after foot surgery took her off the tour for nearly a year, Stephens reached the final four at Flushing Meadows for the first time by edging Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4).