Iga Swiatek’s US Open title defence came to a shocking end on Wednesday as Amanda Anisimova powered past her 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals. It was a rematch of July’s Wimbledon final, where Swiatek had crushed the American 6-0, 6-0. This time, Anisimova dictated play with fearless shot-making to reach her first semifinal in New York. “It feels surreal,” the 23-year-old American said. “I wanted to show I could compete at this level again, and to do it here against Iga makes it even more special.”Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka held off Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-6 (3) to stay unbeaten in major quarterfinals. Osaka moves into the last four, joining Anisimova in what promises to be an unpredictable finish at Flushing Meadows.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
On the men’s side, Felix Auger-Aliassime battled past Alex de Minaur in a four-hour, 10-minute marathon, winning 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-6 (4) to advance to his second Grand Slam semifinal and first since 2021 at the US Open.The 25th seed struck 22 aces and 51 winners, saving a crucial set point with a 120 mph ace in the second-set tiebreak to avoid going down two sets to love. “It wasn’t always pretty, but I was willing to dig really deep,” the Canadian said.For the first time in his career, Auger-Aliassime has eliminated three seeds in a single Slam, adding No. 8 de Minaur to earlier wins over No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 15 Andrey Rublev. He will next face either top seed Jannik Sinner or No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti for a spot in Sunday’s final.Thursday’s night session brings the women’s semifinals, headlined by defending champion Aryna Sabalenka against Jessica Pegula in a rematch of last year’s title clash.
