US Open, Flushing Meadows, New York
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Dates: 25 August-8 September Coverage:
Live radio and text commentary on Andy Murray's matches, plus
commentary every day from 18:00 or 18:30 BST on BBC Radio 5 live sports
extra
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Five-time US Open champion Serena Williams roared into the
semi-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over Italian 11th seed Flavia Pennetta.
Japan's Kei Nishikori defeated third seed Stan Wawrinka
in a five-set thriller to make a Grand Slam last four for the first
time.
The 10th seed came through his
second successive four-hour match
to win 3-6 7-5 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (5-7) 6-4.
"I don't know how I finished the match," said Nishikori.
Russia's Ekaterina Makarova also made it into her first
ever Grand Slam semi-final - beating two-time finalist Victoria
Azarenka 6-4 6-2 in New York.
Ekaterina Makarova had lost in her previous four Grand slam appearances
Top seed and defending champion Williams lost the first
three games of her match on Arthur Ashe - but then slipped into gear to
win in just 63 minutes.
Williams said she "had a lot of fun" and is one of only two top-10 seeded players left in the tournament.
"I've had a tough year in the majors," added Williams.
"I've gone down to some great players outside of the top 10 so you can
never underestimate anyone. We're all fighting really hard and we all
deserve to be here."
Kei Nishikori's five-set win over Stan Wawrinka was only four minutes shorter than his quarter-final victory over Milos Raonic
Nishikori had beaten Milos Raonic in the fourth round
in five sets in a match that finished at 2.26am - the joint latest
finish in US Open history.
Back on court barely 36 hours later, he became the
first Japanese man in the Open era to reach a Grand Slam semi-final
after an epic four hours and 15 minute encounter with the Australian
Open champion.
Nishikori said: "I started a little bit tight but my
body was okay, I was feeling more and more confident, especially getting
the third set.
"I feel amazing. I hope I can recover again and play 100 per cent tennis next round."
A frustrated Wawrinka committed 78 errors and managed to convert just two of 10 break point opportunities
Wawrinka's game was riddled with 78 errors. "I was
ready for the fight. I was ready to play," he said. "I'm a little bit
disappointed with myself, with the level I had today. I don't think I
played a great match. I think I was a little bit hesitant with my game."
Azarenka, 25, runner-up for the past two years, was not
at her best in losing to 17th seed Makarova and received a warning
after smashing her racquet.
Makarova was in a Grand Slam quarter-final for the fifth time. "It's a great feeling," she said afterwards.
The 26-year-old faces Williams in the semi-final.
"I feel amazing," said Makarova. "Finally I'm in a
semi-final. I've had five chances but now I'm in a semi-final and it's a
great feeling."
Victoria Azarenka smashed her racquet during the second set of her loss to Ekaterina Makarova
Azarenka's representative revealed after the match the player
had suffered with food poisoning
the day before.
The Belarusian confirmed that she had not practised on
Tuesday, but added: "I don't really want to talk about it. I just want
to give credit to my opponent. She played really well today.
"Am I disappointed? Yes, I'm disappointed. But I feel
like I tried my best with whatever I had. But I just want to wish her
good luck. That's it. I'm out of the tournament."
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Women's singles quarter-finals
Ekaterina Makarova (Rus) (17) beat Victoria Azarenka (Blr) (16) 6-4 6-2
Serena Williams (USA) (1) beat Flavia Pennetta (Ita) (11) 6-3 6-2
Williams on Pennetta's fast start: "I felt she was
playing really well, I don't feel I was doing too much wrong (in the
first three games). I just said to myself that if she keeps it up then
she absolutely deserves the win and I just tried to do a little better."
Pennetta: "From the beginning of the tournament, if you
ask me the first day to get in the quarter-final, have the chance to
play Serena, yeah, to get in the semi for me was a dream."
Men's singles quarter-finals
Kei Nishikori (Jap) (10) beat Stan Wawrinka (Swi) (3) 3-6 7-5 7-6(9-7) 6-7(5-7) 6-4
Novak Djokovic (Ser) (1) beat Andy Murray (GBR) (8) 7-6 (7-1) 6-7 (1-7) 6-2
Full report here
Results in full
Stats of the day
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Stan Wawrinka made 78 unforced errors as he lost to Kei Nishikori in five sets
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The match lasted 4hrs 19mins, making it the fourth-longest of the tournament
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Nishikori was also involved in the longest against Milos Raonic - he has spent 8hrs 34mins on court in his last two matches
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Britwatch
Ross Hutchins
and his playing partner, Taiwan's Yung-Jan Chan, lost their mixed
doubles semi-final 7-5 4-6 10-7 to top seeds Sania Mirza of India and
Brazilian Bruno Soares.
Full report here.
Great Britain's Katie Swan lost in the girls' singles but won in the girls' doubles
Katie Swan
lost to the ninth-seeded Ukranian Anhelina Kalinina 6-3 6-2 in round two of the junior girls' singles.
In the junior girls' doubles, 17-year-old
Isabelle Wallace
and her Romanian playing partner Ioana Loredana Rosca lost a match
tie-break to go down 6-2 1-6 11-13 to fourth seeds Jelena Ostapenko
(Lat) and Olga Fridman (Ukr) in round two.
But British compatriot
Maia Lumsden
did make it through to the third round of the junior girls' doubles
with her playing partner Fanni Stollar (Hun). They upset Russian eighth
seeds Anna Kalinskaya and Evgeniya Levashova 6-3 7-6 (7-4).
And British duo
Freya Christie
and Swan triumphed in the same category 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 against
second seeds Anhelina Kalinina (Ukr) and Iryna Shymanovich (Blr).
Quotes of the day
Ekaterina Makarova
looks like Steffi Graf and her name is sung to the Hey Macarena
tune. Asked who knows her better, her boyfriend or her tennis coach -
Makarova replied, smiling: "I think my coach. I spend more time with my
coach than with my family."
"I'm already tired thinking of Davis Cup."
Stan Wawrinka
is not quite ready to get 'pumped' for Switzerland's semi-final against Italy.
"Guys, I'm not going to make excuses for myself. You
can ask me 20 times the same question. I'm not going to make any excuses
today."
Victoria Azarenka