The tennis drama starring Shia LaBeouf turns heads in Toronto, although early reviews are mixed.
The semi-finals on Friday feature two former US Open champions and two Grand Slam semi-final debutants. The 2017 US Open is the first Grand Slam event to feature three double-digit seeds or unseeded players in the semi-finals since 2002 Roland Garros: [11] Juan Carlos Ferrero, [18] Alex Corretja and [20] Albert Costa.
All three were Spaniards, and the 2017 US Open has been another breakout tournament for Spain. Two Spaniards are in the semi-finals for the first time in US Open history: Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreno Busta.
No. 1 Nadal and No. 24 seed Juan Martin del Potro resume their rivalry with the Spaniard holding an 8-5 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead. However, the Argentine leads 5-4 on hard courts, winning the past two meetings (2013 Shanghai, 2016 Rio Olympics). Nadal is 3-2 in US Open semi-finals and 22-3 in Grand Slam semi-finals overall, winning the past 14 since falling to del Potro at the 2009 US Open.
View FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups for the SF matches and vote for who you think will win!
Nadal vs. del Potro | Federer vs. del Potro
The Spaniard is looking to reach his 23rd career Grand Slam final (15-7) and third of the season (1-1). This is del Potro’s second US Open SF and fourth Grand Slam SF overall (1-2). The 2009 US Open champion last reached a Grand Slam SF at 2013 Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic).
Nadal won 10th titles at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Roland Garros. It was in Paris he passed Pete Sampras for second all-time with 15 Grand Slam titles. He also won a fifth Mutua Madrid Open on clay.
Del Potro, who saved match points to beat Dominic Thiem in five sets in the fourth round, is appearing in just his second ATP World Tour semi-final of the season, having reached the last four at Delray Beach. He is one of only five players to have beaten both Roger Federer and Nadal at the same tournament.
In the first semi-final on Arthur Ashe Stadium, No. 28 seed Kevin Anderson brings a 2-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against No. 12 seed Carreno Busta, who has not dropped a set in five matches (15-0). The last time two first-time Grand Slam semi-finalists met in a SF was 2005 Roland Garros (Puerta d. Davydenko).
Carreno Busta is attempting to become the first US Open champion since Neale Fraser in 1960 to win the title without dropping a set. The 31-year-old Anderson has only been broken three times in 87 service games (97 per cent), saving 15 of 18 break points.
Anderson is the first South African to reach the US Open semi-finals since Johan Kriek in 1980 (l. to Borg). He bids to become the first South African in a US Open final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965 and a Grand Slam final since Kriek won the 1981 Australian Open (d. Denton). Kriek represented the USA when he won the 1982 Australian Open.
Anderson, Carreno Busta and del Potro are all capable of milestones based on their ranking. As the World No. 32, Anderson is the lowest-ranked player in a Grand Slam semi-final since No. 34 Tommy Haas at 2009 Wimbledon and in a US Open semi-final since No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny in 2006.
Anderson or the 28th-ranked del Potro could become the lowest-ranked US Open finalist and/or champion since the inception of the Emirates ATP Rankings in 1973.
The South African or Argentine could also become the lowest-ranked Grand Slam finalist since No. 38 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open. Anderson, del Potro or the 19th-ranked Carreno Busta could become the lowest-ranked Grand Slam champion since No. 44 Gaston Gaudio at 2004 Roland Garros.
If Carreno Busta defeats Anderson and Nadal defeats del Potro, Carreno Busta would be the lowest-ranked US Open finalist since No. 22 Mark Philippoussis in 1998 and Grand Slam finalist since No. 25 Robin Soderling at 2009 Roland Garros. Carreno Busta would be the lowest-ranked US Open champion since the 20th-ranked Agassi in 1994.
In a stop-start season due to injury, Anderson has found form on the North American hard courts, reaching the Citi Open final in Washington, D.C. and the Coupe Rogers quarter-finals, losing both times to Alexander Zverev. Earlier in the season he reached the semi-finals on clay at the Millenium Estoril Open.
Carreno Busta won that tournament, without dropping a set, for his third ATP World Tour title. The Spaniard was a runner-up in Rio de Janeiro and a semi-finalist in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau are on a roll at this year’s US Open. The 12th seeds narrowly edged top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers on Thursday to reach their second Grand Slam final together as a team.
The Dutch-Romanian pair’s 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 triumph follows a quarter-final upset of No. 4 seeds and defending champions Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Rojer and Tecau, who won the Wimbledon crown in 2015, came into New York on the back of winning their third title of the season in Winston-Salem (d. Peralta/Zeballos).
Kontinen and Peers had not dropped a set at this year’s US Open before their semi-final. And the Finnish-Australian duo could have risen to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race to London, had they gone on to win the title.
Rojer and Tecau have now won 18 of 20 sets since 21 August and will face 11th-seeded duo Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez for the title. The Spaniards ended Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan’s bid for a sixth US Open title, dropping their first set of the tournament in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
In a rematch of their 2016 US Open quarter-final, it was again Lopez and Lopez who gained the better of the American twins. The Spaniards also defeated them in the 2016 Roland Garros final, but lost to them last month at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.
Mike Bryan broke a tie with Daniel Nestor on Tuesday to become the doubles player with the most match wins in the Open Era. A win would have extended that tally to 1,053.
| US Open |
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| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 28 Aug-10 Sept |
| BBC coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches every day. |
Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are into the final of the US Open men’s wheelchair doubles after a straight-set victory over Gustavo Fernandez and Shingo Kunieda.
The second seeds beat the Argentine-Japanese pair 6-3 6-2.
They will face the winner of Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer versus Joachim Gerard and Stefan Olsson.
Hewett, 19, is making his debut at Flushing Meadows, while 25-year-old Reid won the title in 2015.
With the US Open at the semi final stage, the tournament will now have a guaranteed American winner on the women’s…
While much of the excitement will be on the other semi final where Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens face off, Madison…
| US Open |
|---|
| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 28 Aug-10 Sept |
| BBC coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches every day. |
Two all-American semi-finals will take place on day 11 of the US Open as Venus Williams plays Sloane Stephens and Coco Vandeweghe faces Madison Keys.
It is the first all-US last four line-up at the tournament since 1981.
Williams, the 2000 and 2001 champion, and Stephens will be first on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York at 00:00 BST.
Vandeweghe, seeded 20th, 15th seed Keys and unseeded Stephens are aiming to reach their first Grand Slam final.
Williams and Stephens both won final-set tie-breaks to reach this stage, against Petra Kvitova and Anastasija Sevastova respectively.
Vandeweghe overcame Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to join them, while Keys saw off unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi.
Ninth seed Williams, 37, is the oldest semi-finalist at any Grand Slam since Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1994.
“It’s such a wonderful feeling, because you put in so much work to be able to succeed at these moments,” said Williams.
“It has been a great two weeks for American tennis, seeing all the American players in the draw and all of them advancing so deep and competing so well.”
Stephens, 24, added: “Making the semi-finals of a Slam is a complete neutraliser, anybody’s game. I just have to focus on myself.
“Venus is just our leader, everyone looks up to her. She’s a great player, a great person. She’s a great leader.”
Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win a Grand Slam when he triumphed at the 1968 US Open and Williams and Stephens will face each other on the court named after the three-time major winner.
“It’s great for American tennis,” said Stephens. “It’s great for African-American women. I hope that we keep it going.”
Williams, who reached the final at her first US Open in 1997, the same year the Arthur Ashe Stadium made its debut, added: “He’s a total legend.
“He played during a time where he couldn’t just focus on the tennis. I’m very blessed to be able to focus on my game. But he had to fight because of the colour of his skin.
“It was a completely different time. So I can’t even imagine the pressure he was under. To come out of it with grace, as a champion, it’s incredible.”
Vandeweghe was the third American to reach the semi-finals after she saw off world number one Pliskova 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, knocking the Czech off the top of the rankings at the same time.
It is the first time the 25-year-old, who won the junior championship at Flushing Meadows as a 16-year-old in 2008, has reached this stage of the US Open.
Vandeweghe recently began working with Pat Cash and credits the 1984 men’s singles semi-finalist with helping her to keep calm on court.
“Maybe it’s like some Jedi mind trick,” said the 20th seed.
“I think the biggest thing is channelling my intensity and tenacity out onto the court and putting it into a singular focus. I think that’s probably one of the biggest things he’s implemented into my regimen.”
Keys completed an all-American final four for the first time in 36 years. Tracy Austin – who would go on to be champion – Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Barbara Potter were the last US quartet in the semi-finals.
The 15th seed beat former world number 15 Kanepi 6-3 6-3 in only one hour and eight minutes.
Keys, 22, is bidding to reach a first Grand Slam final with her run at Flushing Meadows this year matching her best performance in a major, when she reached the Australian Open semi-final two years ago.
“I have been taking this whole tournament one match at a time, one point at a time,” said Keys.
“I’m definitely not getting ahead of myself in that way.
“I’m really proud of getting here in the first place. I’m just going to keep focusing on the next match and then breaking it down from there.”
Meanwhile in the men’s wheelchair doubles, Britain’s Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, who retained their Wimbledon title in July, have made it through to the semi-finals.
The second seeds will face the unseeded pair of Gustavo Fernandez of Argentina and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda.
In the women’s wheelchair doubles, Britain’s Lucy Shuker and partner Yui Kamiji of Japan will take on USA’s Dana Mathewson and Aniek Van Koot of the Netherlands in the semis.
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