SPORT: US OPEN 2016 ROUND-UP

This year, Roberta Vinci couldn't pull off a huge
upset at the US Open and it meant that a
showdown for the No. 1 ranking between Serena
Williams and Angelique Kerber drew ever closer.
Kerber won a grueling first set, then eased to
victory Tuesday against Vinci in New York, 7-5
6-0, to advance to the semifinals, where she will
be joined by an ultra-sharp Gael Monfils. Monfils
progressed in the men's draw by downing an
understandably fatigued countryman, Lucas
Pouille, 6-4 6-3 6-3, to keep alive France's
chances of producing a first men's grand slam
winner since 1983.
Twelve months ago, Vinci engineered one of the
biggest surprises in tennis history by defeating
Williams in the semifinals to end the American's
bid to become the first player since Steffi Graf in
1988 to achieve a calendar-year grand slam.
Topping the second-ranked Kerber wouldn't have
been as much of a shock -- but still would have
been plenty unexpected given the German won
her first major this year after overcoming
Williams in the Australian Open final in January
and tested her in July's Wimbledon final. Kerber,
too, won silver in singles at the Olympics in Rio.
Kerber eventually figured out how to cope with
Vinci's unorthodox game that includes a wicked
backhand slice -- the eighth-ranked Italian will
rue not serving out the first set at 5-4 -- and will
be assured top position in the rankings on
Monday if Williams does not reach the final.
Williams, who on Monday became the all-time
leader in grand slam wins, plays Simona Halep in
their quarterfinal Wednesday.
If, as anticipated, Kerber and Williams face off in
Saturday's final, the winner is No. 1 on Monday.
As it stands, Williams sits atop the rankings for a
186th consecutive week this week to tie Graf,
Kerber's idol, for the all-time women's lead.
Kerber, who missed out on the top ranking when
she lost in the final in Cincinnati last month, was
trying not to think too much about potentially
becoming No. 1.
"This would mean a lot to me," Kerber told
reporters. "When I was a kid I was always
dreaming to being the No. 1. Let's see. There
are still matches to go.
"I'm looking forward to play, first of all, my next
match. If the day will come, it will be amazing."
She will face former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki --
Williams' close friend -- in the last four. The
Dane beat unseeded Latvian Anastasija
Sevastova 6-0 6-2 to reach the semis at a grand
slam for the first time since losing the 2014 US
Open final against Williams.
Monfils breezes
Pouille had won three straight fifth sets at the
US Open -- no man in the Open Era has won four
in a row at any major -- including a fifth-set
tiebreak over Rafael Nadal on Sunday. He can
strike winners virtually anywhere on the court.
But all the long matches took their toll. Monfils
didn't try to overplay and served well, not
conceding a break point. Not even a brief
stoppage to put the roof on Arthur Ashe affected
the newly turned 30-year-old. Monfils, yet to
drop a set, got to his second grand slam
semifinal after the 2008 French Open.
Monfils is seeking to become France's first
men's finalist at the US Open since 1993.
However, his next opponent is world No. 1 and
defending champion Novak Djokovic, who
progressed when French ninth seed Jo-Wilfried
Tsonga retired after losing the opening two sets
in Tuesday's night session.


Source :cnn
Edited by DANIEL IKECHUKWU EKWUNIFE