Victoria Azarenka will remain world number one after knocking holder Samantha Stosur out in the quarterfinals of the US Open 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) on Tuesday.
Azarenka will play a semifinal against the winner from 2006 winner Maria Sharapova and French 11th seed Marion Bartoli, with the match interrupted by rain as Sharapova trailed 4-0.
Attempts by beleaguered organisers at the only one of the four Grand Slams without either a showcase court roof or plans for one, went for nought, as weather produced four interruptions over 10 hours of attempted play.
Ferrer in quarters
Holder Novak Djokovic had just gotten started 2-0 over Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in their fourth round match when they were called off court.
Andy Roddick remained alive at his retirement event after starting a tiebreaker with Juan Del Potro 6-6, 1-0. Serb Janko Tipsarevic led German Philipp Kohlschreiber 5-2.
Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer got in a trip to the quarters, beating Richard Gasquet 7-5, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 before more bad weather arrived in the evening.
“There’s always going to be disappointment when you lose in the quarters of the US Open, but I have to say I’m really pleased with the way I played,” said Stosur. “It was a really, really good match, and there was, what, a point or two in it.
“I’m really happy with the way I played out there, and I gave it everything I had.
“It’s been a rough year; I came off a pretty rough spot before coming to the US hard court season (Olympic opening loss). I have really been able to turn my form around really quickly and come here to New York and play great all of my matches.”
Azarenka was thrilled to get through what she called a battle.
“I have no words. We both showed some excellent tennis. You could feel the pressure all the time.
“Being first time in the semifinals in the US Open is an incredible feeling for me. Definitely I don’t want to stop. I really want it bad.
“I’m going to do absolutely everything I have to give it all here. “She really pushed me. I had to dig deep. We fought really hard.
It was always somebody had to grab the opportunity, you know, to provoke mistakes. The quality of tennis was really high, and it was tense because it could go either way.”
