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How to watch: ESPN; streaming on ESPN + and ESPN3.
How to go there: Take Metro Line 7 or Long Island Rail Road towards Mets-Willets Point.
Wednesday schedule: Men | Women
Matteo Berrettini became the first Italian to reach the semifinals of the United States Open since Corrado Barazzutti in 1977, defeating Gael Monfils, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5) .
He was two months and one day shorter than his fellow semifinalist Daniil Medvedev, making him the youngest semifinalist of the Open since Novak Djokovic in 2010. Berrettini, a member of the rising cohort of Italians in the top 50 in February and won two titles this year.
Berrettini, seeded number 24, will face the winner of the match Wednesday night between the second seed, Rafael Nadal and number 20, Diego Schwartzman.
Playing his first major quarter-final, Berrettini served for the match at 5-3 in the fifth set and held a match point, but was broken. Then at 5-6, two double Monfils faults allowed Berrettini to score two more points. Monfils held, and they played a fifth-place tiebreaker.
Berrettini took advantage of two other Monfils double faults and gained another point when he managed to defeat an outgoing call to take the 5-2 advantage. Monfils again found himself at the service, but Berrettini won a 24-hit rally with a winning thief to get three extra match points. On the second, the return of Monfils was long to give the victory to Berrettini after 3 hours and 57 minutes.
Belinda Bencic beats Donna Vekic.
Belinda Bencic and Donna Vekic are about the same age. They are close friends and frequent practice partners. These were highly touted teen gamers who, in their early twenties, were finally meeting late at a Grand Slam tournament.
It was not surprising then that for most of their quarterfinals in Wednesday's US Open, they were only separated by a few points.
Midway through the second set, Bencic, the 13th seed, moved away to defeat Vekic, 23rd, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and qualify for her first semifinal.
Bencic was mentored by Melanie Molitor, the mother and coach of Martina Hingis, another Swiss woman.
She played her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in 2014 at the age of 17 during her debut in the United States. lost to Peng Shuai, 6-2, 6-1. She reached the top 10 at 18 years old.
Bencic had not returned to the eighth-final of a major since the 2014 Open, his career was interrupted in 2017 because of a wrist operation.
Her ranking is outside the top 300 and she has participated in low-level professional tournaments in Europe to return. This season, she has nine wins in the top 10, most on the WTA circuit. She will be back in the top 10 next week.
At age 17, Bencic said that going to the open quarterfinals "was already very great. I do not think it's a disappointment to lose that. "
But this time, she felt she deserved to be in the semifinals.
"I really felt that I could take it, even though I was very nervous before the match," she added.
After a tight first set, Bencic opened the match after Vekic survived a long match, saving two points to stay at 3-2. Bencic won the following eight points to take a 4-3 lead and did not lose another match in the match. In the second set, she had only four non-forced errors, including three doubles.
"I felt that I could not get three good points together," Vekic said. "I played as a point, then a bad one. I do not know. I did not have much rhythm today. "
Bencic will meet the winner of Wednesday's match between No. 15 Bianca Andreescu and No. 25 Elise Mertens.
Bencic was as surprised as anyone else to be the last Swiss singles player. His compatriots Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, who have 23 Grand Slam titles, lost their quarter-final match on Tuesday.
"It's not a good thing," she said. "I'm not happy about that, actually. I am a bit surprised, as I think everyone is. It would be really good if the boys could also go to the semifinals. But I'm happy to be able to do it for them. "
Bianca Andreescu and Rafael Nadal enliven the night session.
Bianca Andreescu, a 19-year-old Canadian, hopes to become the first teenager to reach the semifinals of the women's tournament since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009. A phenomenal player of all terrains, Andreescu has lost just four games this year – none since March – and has climbed from number 152 to rank 15. But his season has been interrupted by an injury to the team. shoulder in the spring.
Elise Mertens, a 23-year-old Belgian, is the only player in her half of the draw to reach the semi-finals of the Grand Slam, at the 2018 Australian Open. Mertens did not lose a set and lost only 16 games before going to the quarterfinals. Andreescu is the first leading player that Mertens will play. Mertens has an excellent lateral movement and she will seek to rely on her experience to resist the fast pace with which Andreescu strikes.
In the match of the second night, Rafael Nadal will try to qualify for his eighth semifinal US Open. Nadal, seeded second, who beat a resilient Marin Cilic in the round of 16, seemed outstanding throughout the first week of the American Open. Nadal won three titles at Flushing Meadows, but retired from last year's semifinal against Juan MartÃn del Potro, who suffered a knee injury throughout his career. This year, nothing seemed to stop it. With rivals Djokovic and Federer out of the tournament, Nadal is the big favorite to win.
Diego Schwartzman, seeded number 20 Argentina, will try to get in his way. He will play his second quarterfinal US Open at 27. He trained at the Nadal Academy, but lost his seven career games against him. The excellent return of Schwartzman's services was at its height Monday against Alexander Zverev, sixth seeded. He put so much pressure on Zverev that he committed 17 double faults on all four sets.
Jamie Murray's show is at Armstrong Stadium.
The Louis Armstrong Stadium schedule includes six doubles matches, including two with British Briton Jamie Murray. In the second game of the day, Murray and his new male doubles partner, Neal Skupski, beat American team Jack Sock and Jackson Withrow 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). Sock and Withrow, who grew up together in the Midwest, have recently rallied on the professional circuit, but had looked impressive by knocking out two seeded teams, including the Bryan brothers, on their way to the quarter-finals.
Later on Wednesday, Murray will return to Armstrong Stadium for the mixed doubles semi-final with Bethanie Mattek-Sands against Samantha Stosur and Rajeev Ram. Murray and Mattek-Sands are the defending champions of the American Open. Murray also won the Open in 2017 with Martina Hingis. Ram and Stosur have had more success this year in their individual competitions, leading them to rank 3rd, while the defending champions are not ranked. If you like highly technical and tactical tennis, it's a match for you.
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