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The long drawn fourth round men's match between Stanislas Wawrinka and Sam Querrey at the US Open this Tuesday meant that the lone American survivor in the draw - male or female was made to wait in locker room along with an Italian who has shown exceptional courage this year to take her career to a new high. Venus Williams, in her ornate ensemble turned out to be more than the Italian Francesca Schiavone could handle, despite putting on a gamely fight to the very end. Williams saw off her Italian challenger 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance to the semi-finals at the US Open for the 8th time. Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur played out an erratic but competitive match in the opener to the night session. Clijsters saw off the fighting Aussie in three sets to set up an intriguing semi-final against the elder stateswoman on the WTA Tour.

Though there is plenty of daylight between their tennis legacies, on current form there wasn't much to choose between the two 30-year old women looking to enjoy a final flourish to their careers. The Italian discovered this year that it is never too late to make a mark on the world stage by winning her first major title at the French Open. Venus hasn't won a major title since her emotional victory at the 2008 Wimbledon. Williams broke Schiavone in the fifth game of the opening set to take the early lead, but she threw away her advantage, serving a double fault at break point in the eighth game. The set went into a tie-break where once again it was Venus who did the early bidding to lead 4-0. The Italian has shown remarkable fighting spirit this season, and in yet another resilient display clawed her way back to 5-5. But then her intensity dipped for a moment as she made unforced errors off either wing to gift the set to Williams. The Williamses have dominated the Women's Tour for the better part of this decade, and the last thing the Italian could afford was a gift to Venus in New York, despite the recent surge of money into her bank account.

The match started to drift away from the Italian, who trailed 1-4 after being broken in the fourth game of the second set. However, Schiavone found the resolve to put up one final strand of resistance. She stroked a powerful backhand that drew an error from Venus and brought the set back on serve. The drama intensified as the players traded breaks in the next two games, as the Italian fought tooth and nail to retain a slim thread of hope. Interestingly Venus double faulted on breakpoint while serving for the match. In the end there were to be four consecutive breaks, as the American broke again in the tenth game with a neatly caressed forehand down the line winner to end the match. Venus looked ahead to her semi-final encounter against the defending champion Clijsters, "Obviously a great competitor," said the third-seeded Williams. "She plays her best tennis, it seems, at this tournament. I'm sure it's a place she feels really comfortable."

Clijsters had a shaky beginning to her match, handing an early break to Stosur in the third game of the first set. The blustery conditions weren't making life easy for the players, but it appeared that the Aussie was adjusting better to the conditions. Leading 4-3, with a break in hand, Stosur played an error filled game - three unforced errors including an easy volley dumped in the net - allowed Clijsters back into the set. The set was hanging in the balance at 30-30 in the tenth game, when the Aussie made an expensive error sending a backhand long. The next point turned out to be the best point yet - Stosur played a good approach shot to the deep forehand corner of Clijsters, but the Belgian pulled off a stunning forehand cross court passing shot past the outstretched arm of the Aussie to end the set. Incidentally, Clijsters was the less convincing player at this stage, but had a set in the bag.

Again, it was Stosur who made the early move, breaking in the first game of the second set. The fourth game though undid her advantage - Stosur did well to retrieve the situation to save the first two break points, but then she served a double fault at a critical juncture to gift the break back to Clijsters. At 5-5 in the second set, the clock was ticking on the Australian - but in typically gritty style the fifth seed stepped up her play in the eleventh game to clinch the break with a well placed volley, before serving out with ease to take the second set and stay in the match.

The final set was turning bizarre with neither player managing to hold serve for six straight games. Finally, it was Clijsters who held serve in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. She also seemed to have broken Stosur's spirit who double faulted on breakpoint to leave the Belgian serving for the match. The no.2 seed extinguished any hope for the Aussie by clinching her first match point with a perfect ace. She will now contest Venus for a place in the finals - the head to head is an even 6-6, but Clijsters has won the last four matches. Whichever woman prevails will thoroughly deserve her shot at a third US Open title this Saturday night.

On Wednesday, the top half of the draw will attempt to complete the semi-final puzzle. Estoninan rockstar Kaia Kanepi takes on Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva first, followed by the red hot top seed Caroline Wozniacki battling with the unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova.

Results

Singles - Quarterfinals
(3) Venus Williams (USA) d. (6) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 76(5) 64
(2) Kim Clijsters (BEL) d. (5) Samantha Stosur (AUS) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3

Doubles - Quarterfinals
(6) King/Shvedova (USA/KAZ) d. (1) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) 63 63
(9) Black/Rodionova (ZIM/AUS) d. (14) Vesnina/Zvonareva (RUS/RUS) 46 75 64

File Photograph Copyright: Edwin Martinez

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