NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Unseeded, overlooked and largely unknown on the international stage, Yanina Wickmayer moved into the semi-finals of the U.S. Open yesterday.
Wickmayer, who has been Belgium’s top player since Kim Clijsters left the game in 2007 to start a family, bounced Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic edged his way into the semi-finals with a 7-6 1-6 7-5 6-2 victory over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in just over three hours amid swirling winds on the stadium court.
Under the lights on Wednesday, American sensation Melanie Oudin was set to play 19-year-old Dane Caroline Wozniacki in a match-up of unseeded teenagers, while five-times champion Roger Federer battles Swede Robin Soderling, the 12th seed whom he beat in the French Open final.
With 17-year-old Oudin creating such a stir at Flushing Meadows because of her youth and frenetic style of play, Wickmayer, at 19, is receiving little attention.
As comeback mum Clijsters waltzes through the draw in her first grand slam since ending her retirement last month, Wickmayer is even taking a back-seat in her own country.
The 50th ranked Wickmayer, who has failed to advance past the first round in five of her six previous career grand slam appearances, admits to being amazed at her run.
“Before this, my best result was second round,” she said. “So of course when you get to the third, fourth round, you start surprising yourself.
“But actually, I’ve been staying pretty calm. I’ve worked really hard for this.”
The rash of upsets among the women has left only number two seed and three-times champion Serena Williams left in the draw among the top eight.
Djokovic, a finalist here in 2007, had 10 aces and landed 67 percent of his first serves to reach his third consecutive U.S. Open semi-final.
The fourth seeded Serb broke crucially at 5-5 in the third set and cruised through the fourth set as number 10 seed Verdasco appeared to struggle with a stomach muscle injury.
In doubles, top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan were sent off by Leander Paes of India and Czech Lukas Dlouhy, 6-4 3-6 7-6 in the semi-finals, while Serena and Venus Williams advanced to the last four in the women’s draw with a 7-5 6-4 triumph over the Chinese duo of Jie Zheng and Zi Yan.
