#open semifinal

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NEW YORK | The Latest: Williams beats Pliskova to reach US Open semis

NEW YORK  — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local): 8:50 p.m.

Serena Williams shook off a slow start to grab eight consecutive games and beat 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 6-3 for a spot in the U.S. Open semifinals.

Williams delivered 13 aces, part of a 35-12 edge in winners. But she trailed by a break in the opening set, and then was a point from being behind 4-1, before turning things around.

Williams reached her 36th Grand Slam semifinal and her 12th at Flushing Meadows, where she is a six-time champion.

Pliskova is the last woman to beat Williams at the U.S. Open, eliminating her in the semifinals two years ago. Williams missed the U.S. Open a year ago because she gave birth to her daughter during the tournament. ___ 5:35 p.m. Juan Martin del Potro beat John Isner to make a second straight U.S. Open semifinal, and extend the Americans’ drought at their host tournament.

The 2009 champion won 6-7 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2 and will face top-ranked Rafael Nadal or No. 9 Dominic Thiem in the semifinals. Nadal beat del Potro last year in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows, and again this year in the semifinals of the French Open.

Isner was trying to become the first American man to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2006. ___ 1:50 p.m. As one American star lost in the main draw Tuesday, another of the country’s rising stars was on display at the U.S. Open.

Top-seeded junior Cori “Coco” Gauff won her second round match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, over Romanian Selma Stefania Cadar, before juniors matches were suspended because of the heat.

The 14-year-old comes into this tournament as the second-ranked junior in the world after winning the girls’ French Open title earlier this year. She received a wild card into last year’s U.S. Open and became the youngest player ever to make the girls’ final.

Gauff’s father, Corey, played basketball at Georgia State and her mother, Candi, ran track at Florida State.

Gauff said she tried both those sports, but found her niche with tennis.

Gauff received a wild card this year into the qualifiers for the main draw at Flushing Meadows, but lost 6-4, 6-1 to Heather Watson of England. ____ 1:40 p.m. Defending champion Sloane Stephens has been knocked out of the U.S. Open in straight sets.

Anastasija Sevastova, the No. 19 seed, dominated Stephens 6-2, 6-3 to reach her first semifinal in Flushing Meadows after making it to the quarterfinals the past two years.

Stephens beat Sevastova a year ago on her way to the title, but had no answer for the Latvian on Tuesday.

Sevastova came into the match having broken her opponent’s serve a tournament-leading 23 times. She broke Stephens twice in the opening set, including at love in the final game.

She broke again to go up 2-0 in the second set before Stephens, pleading with herself to fight, broke back.

But Sevastova broke again to go up 3-1.

She then dropped her racket and held her hands to her face as a Stephens shot went into the net on the match’s final point. ___ 11:45 a.m. The extreme heat policy is in effect for a second consecutive day at the U.S. Open.

A 10-minute break will be allowed between the second and third sets of women’s singles matches if either player requests one. For men’s singles matches, the break would come between the third and fourth sets.

The policy is a rule on the women’s tour but not the men’s. U.S. Open officials began putting it in play last week, when temperatures first soared into the mid-90s. The policy was in place Tuesday through Thursday.

It was 86 degrees just before the start of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between Anastasija Sevastova and defending champion Sloane Stevens on Arthur Ashe Stadium, with temperatures again expected to rise through the 90s. ____ 11:30 a.m. Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens can give the United States two U.S. Open semifinalists, a year after an all-American women’s final four.

And for the first time since 2006, the host country can have a man there, too.

Williams and Stephens first have to win quarterfinal matches Tuesday. Defending champion Stephens is up first on Arthur Ashe Stadium, facing No. 19 seed Anastasija Sevastova in a rematch of Stephens’ three-set victory in the same round at Flushing Meadows last year.

Williams, seeded 17th, meets the last player to beat her at the U.S. Open. Karolina Pliskova, the No. 8 seed, knocked off Williams in the 2016 semifinals before the 23-time Grand Slam champion missed last year’s tournament, when she gave birth.

On the men’s side, defending champion Rafael Nadal faces Dominic Thiem at night in a rematch of Nadal’s French Open victory, and 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro plays John Isner in the other quarterfinal.

If Isner wins, he would be the first American in the U.S. Open semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2006.

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Federer advances to Australian Open semifinal against Chung

MELBOURNE, Australia/January 24, 2018(AP)(STL.News)— Roger Federer accounted for a long-time rival to set up a semifinal against Next Gen champion Hyeon Chung at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Federer’s 7-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych on Wednesday night extended his winning streak to 14 in Australian Open quarterfinals and to nine in that personal duel. The 19-time major winner leads that head-to-head contest 20-6, including all five meetings at Melbourne Park.

The 36-year-old Swiss star overcame a shaky start, dropping his opening service game and uncharacteristically challenging the chair umpire because of a technological fault.

“I had to get a bit lucky. A bit angry. A bit frustrated maybe at the umpire,” Federer said. “Anyway, glad to get out of that first set. It was key to the match.

“That first set could have gone either way. He deserved it, actually. I stole that one a little bit.”

Chung became the first Korean to make a Grand Slam tennis semifinal when he beat No. 97-ranked Tennys Sandgren 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the afternoon match on Rod Laver Arena.

The 21-year-old Chung hadn’t let up when upsetting No. 4 Alexander Zverev or six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic en route to the quarterfinals, but he let his guard down in the last game and needed six match points and to fend off two break points to hold off Sandgren.

“In last game, I think at 40-love … if I win one more point, I make history in Korea. I have to think about the ceremony, something,” he said, explaining how he got slightly ahead of himself. “After deuce, break point. I was like, no, nothing to do with ceremony. But just keep playing — keep focused.”

Then he fully embraced the moment, joking in an on-court TV interview, introducing the audience to his parents and his coach, and taking the microphone to speak in Korean to millions of new tennis fans back home.

“I think all the people is watching Australian Open now because we make history in Korea,” he said.

The No. 58-ranked Chung is the lowest-ranked man to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Marat Safin in 2004. He’s also the youngest to reach the last four at a major since Marin Cilic did it here in 2010.

With Chung already through, and Kyle Edmund playing No. 6 Cilic in the other half of the draw, it’s the first time since 1999 that multiple unseeded players have reached the Australian Open semifinals.

Federer said he has been impressed with the way the two unseeded players have progressed, particularly Chung‘s run.

“To beat Novak on this court is particularly difficult. … He’s incredibly impressive in his movement, reminds me obviously a lot of Novak,” Federer said. “He’s clearly got nothing to lose. I will tell myself the same and we’ll see what happens.”

Chung’s big wins over Zverev and Djokovic have drawn extra attention to a player who last November won the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals title.

He was too consistent for Sandgren, a 26-year-old American who had never won a match at a Grand Slam tournament or beaten a top 10 player until last week.

Sandgren’s unexpected surge to the quarterfinals — he beat 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka and No. 5 Dominic Thiem en route to the quarterfinals — was overshadowed by heavy scrutiny of his Twitter account and his follows and retweets of far-right activists.

Two women who’ve been to this stage at a Grand Slam before will meet in the last four. One has two major titles, the other still seeks a breakthrough. Top-ranked Simona Halep recovered from an early break to win nine straight games in a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 6 Karolina Pliskova and set up a semifinal match Thursday against 2016 champion Angelique Kerber, who routed U.S. Open finalist Madison Keys 6-1, 6-2.

In the other semifinal, No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki will play 22-year-old Elise Mertens.

Kerber has been the only Grand Slam singles champion in the women’s draw since her third-round win over Maria Sharapova. Two-time French Open finalist Halep has had a tougher road — having to save match points in a third-round win over Lauren Davis that finished 15-13 in the third — to reach the semifinals at Melbourne Park for the first time.

Kerber has had no serious distractions on a 14-match winning streak, and is hoping to emulate her breakout year in 2016.

She won the Australian and U.S. Open titles two years ago and reached the No. 1 ranking, but slipped into the 20s last year. She didn’t win a title between the 2016 U.S. Open and the Sydney International earlier this month.

“I am just trying to find the feeling back that I had, like 2016, and just enjoying my time,” Kerber said.