Her stunning career resurgence shows no sign of stopping as Caroline Wozniacki contemplates her first grand slam semi-final in three years at the US Open.
Former world No.1 Wozniacki belted 13th-seeded Italian Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 in her quarter-final on Tuesday night to set up a last four clash with first-time grand slam semi-finalist Peng Shuai.
China’s Peng, in the quarter-finals of a major for the first time at her 37th attempt, made similarly short work of Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-1.
Peng joined two-time grand slam champion Li Na and Zheng Jie as the only Chinese to reach the last four of a slam.
“It’s a little bit too exciting,” Peng said. “I love tennis, I love to play, but it’s a long time, the career. It’s tough. Sometimes I’ve thought to give up and stop playing because I don’t know if I can make it or not.
“My coach and my parents always told me to fight and not give up – that today was coming.”
But inevitably the talk of New York was Wozniacki as she maintained her recent career surge since her very public engagement breakup with golf world No.1 Rory McIlroy.
“It means so much to me,” said 2009 US Open runner-up Wozniacki of reaching the last four.
“It’s been a pretty up and down year for me, and to be here in the semi-finals of the US Open again is just incredible.”
On a windy night on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, where towels from the players’ chairs and stray plastic bags had to be corraled, Wozniacki’s 26 outright winners to the 12 of Errani made the difference.
Errani couldn’t hold once in six service games.
“It was really tricky conditions with the wind but I tried to stay aggressive,” Wozniacki said.
Wozniacki toppled former champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, while Errani’s run had included a third-round win over seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams as upsets saw only two of the top 10 seeds reach the last eight.
Peng, ranked 39th, ploughed through three seeded players to reach the quarters, including fourth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.
She is the only woman besides two-time defending champion Serena Williams who has yet to drop a set in a tournament in which Williams and 10th-seeded Wozniacki are the only players remaining from the top 10 seeds.
Peng took control early against Bencic, the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Martina Hingis won the title at 16 in 1997.
She fended off two break points in her opening service game and didn’t face another.
The second women’s semi-final will be set on Wednesday, when Williams takes on 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta and Victoria Azarenka – runner up to Williams the past two years – faces Russian Ekaterina Makarova in quarter-final matches.
Williams suffered an injury scare on Tuesday, having her right foot and ankle heavily strapped during a timeout early in the second a doubles quarter-final defeat with sister Venus.
