Serena two wins away from crown
NEW YORK—World No. 1 Serena Williams fended off spirited Simona Halep on Wednesday, downing the fifth-seeded Romanian, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, to reach the US Open semifinals.
Williams, seeking a record seventh USOpen title and 23rd Grand Slam crown, fired 18 aces en route to the triumph, which set up a Thursday evening meeting with first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Karolina Pliskova for a place in Saturday’s championship match.
Pliskova, the 10th-seeded Czech who leads the WTAtour in aces this year, beat 18-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh, 6-2, 6-2.
Angelique Kerber, the German world No. 2 bidding to supplant Williams, booked her semifinal slot on Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-0 victory over 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci.
No matter the outcome of Kerber’s semifinal clash with former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Williams must now reach the final to stretch her reign to a record-breaking 187 weeks. If the finals, she must beat Kerber for a seventh USOpen trophy to stay No. 1.
In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic heads into the semifinals as the overwhelming favorite to go on and lift a third US Open title, but Kei Nishikori, Stan Wawrinka and Gael Monfils are lined-up as potential road blocks.
World No. 1 Djokovic takes a 12-0 career lead over Monfils into their semifinal on Friday while Nishikori looks to build on his shock fiveset win over Andy Murray against Wawrinka.
Swiss third seed Wawrinka, playing in his third semifinal in four years, ended Juan Martin del Potro’s magical run in four sets in the early hours of Thursday morning with a 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.
“Gael’s one of the fewplayers that I will definitely pay a ticket to watch,” said Djokovic, who is chasing a third major of the season and 13th overall.