Williams to meet Stephens in semifinal
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 to a soundtrack of thunderous partisan support under a closed roof 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. Kvitova has said she still does not have full strength in her left hand.
Williams is the oldest women’s semifinalist at any Grand Slam tournament since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.
She will face unseeded Sloane Stephens Thursday in the first all-American women’s semifinal in New York since 2002.
The U.S. has a chance to claim all four final women’s 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 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 has ever played in a major final.