New York: Osaka continued to underscore her status as the favourite to win the US Open title as she won her ninth consecutive match since the tour restart, moving into the semi-final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Shelby Rogers.
I feel pretty good, Osaka said afterwards. ‘I think all of the matches were really tough. The scoreline might not suggest it but I’ve had a couple of really hard matches. I think that made me really glad to be in this position right now.’
Alexander Zverev was not at his flying best on Tuesday afternoon inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, but he still found a way to win.
The fifth seed rallied past long-time rival Borna Coric 1-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(1), 6-3 to reach his first US Open semi-final. Zverev had lost all three of his previous tour-level tie-breaks against Coric, but his calm under pressure proved vital in their quarter-final at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
I just started playing maybe a little bit more aggressive because if I would have played the way I played, that’s not the level for a quarter-final match of a Grand Slam, Zverev said. ‘I had to start playing better and I was a little bit more consistent then as well. My serve got better and I thought to myself, ‘I’m down 6-1, 4-2, I have nothing to lose.’
Brady conquered some serious nerves to defeat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva and reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The American 28th seed needed just 1 hour 9 minutes to blow away her 23rd-seeded opponent 6-3, 6-2.
‘Coming into the match today, honestly I was feeling like I was going to poop my pants. I was very nervous,’ said the 25-year-old Brady.
‘I just tried to really stay calm and keep it cool as a cucumber out there,’ she added.