Williams, Wawrinka Advance at Open

BY ESPN

Serena Williams, with all kinds of history nearly within her grasp, won a dramatic quarterfinal match Wednesday night, escaping a fiery challenge from No. 5 seed Simona Halep, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

For another two days, at least, Williams' quest for an Open era record of 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a record seventh US Open title and a new mark for consecutive weeks (187) at No. 1 remains alive.

The match, which captivated the near-capacity crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, required 2 hours, 14 minutes to complete.

"I knew I could play a lot better," Williams said during her on-court interview, in reference to her performance in the second set. "I felt I lost my rhythm, and Simona started playing better.

"I knew I had to step it up in the third set."

Williams, the No. 1 seed, faces No. 10 seed Karolina Pliskova in a Thursday night semifinal that will feature the two women with the most aces among WTA players.

It was Serena's 309th major match win, two more than Roger Federer, extending her all-time Open era record.

 As the clock ticked past midnight into Thursday morning, Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro were just starting the third set.

At 1 a.m. ET, the fans of del Potro tried to lift his sagging spirits by singing the "Ole, Ole, Ole" soccer song. Seventeen minutes later, there was a rousing encore. It made a certain degree of sense that the last of the US Open quarterfinals would be a grudging, grueling affair.

Before a thinning but enthusiastic crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Wawrinka and del Potro traded elegant punches until 1:20 a.m.

In the end, Wawrinka simply wore down del Potro, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.