Sloane Stephens of the United States reached the US Open semi-finals on Tuesday with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory over Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova.
She will play US ninth seed Venus Williams for a place in Saturday’s final.
Stephens has won 13 of her past 15 matches and matched her 2013 Australian Open semi-final run for best Slam effort.
“This is just incredible,” Stephens said. “When I started my comeback at Wimbledon I could never have dreamed of coming back and having these results. It’s indescribable.”
Sevastova, who matched her best major run from last year at New York by ousting Maria Sharapova to reach the last eight, led 3-1 in the third set before Stephens rallied.
“I just told myself to keep fighting and stay consistent,” Stephens said. “I knew if I just stick with it and stayed in every point I’d have my opportunity and I did.
“I was able to play loose and ‘Bam’, here we are.”
In the tie-breaker, Stephens took four of the last five points, three on Sevastova errors before hitting a down-the-line backhand winner ensured her win gto reach the top 35 in next week’s rankings.
Sevastova admitted nerves got to her in the tie-breaker, saying, “It’s normal. You play for semi-finals of US Open. I’m not a robot. Sorry.”
