US Open -Nadal and Williams progress, Sloane Stephens outsted

                                   

Serena Williams overcame a slow start to beat Karolina Pliskova and progress into the US Open semi-finals.

Williams had trailed 4-2 in the first set but ran out a comfortable 6-4 6-3 winner on Tuesday night.

She will play 19th seed Anastasija Sevastova, who downed Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-3 for a place in the final .

Pliskova, in 2016, had eliminated Williams in the US Open semi-finals - the 23-time Grand Slam winner is chasing her first major since becoming a mother last year.

Williams emphatically claimed this quarter-final win by serving for the match and hitting three aces then an overhead smash.

Sloane Stephens' US Open title defence ended in a stunning straight-sets defeat by Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova on Tuesday.

Stephens, who was aiming to become the first woman to successfully defend a Grand Slam title since Serena Williams triumphed at Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, started the day's action on Arthur Ashe Stadium against 19th-seeded Sevastova.

                           

But Sevastova defied the odds to become the first Latvian woman to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time with an impressive 6-2 6-3 victory.

Rafael Nadal defeats Dominic Thiem in US Open quarter-final

                                     

Rafael Nadal survived an onslaught from Dominic Thiem to eventually make the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday morning.

Defending champion Nadal suffered a 'bagel' in the first set but still won 0-6 6-4 7-5 5-7 7-6 to avoid the same fate as Roger Federer.

Nadal will next play third seed Juan Martin Del Potro - the 2009 champion capped off the yesterday's session in soaring temperatures by ousting home favourite and 11th-seeded John Isner in a heavyweight slugfest of the towering big-servers 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 ,for a slot in the final .