Defending champion Sloane Stephens became the latest big name to fall at the US Open.
In stiflingly hot conditions on Tuesday, the American went down 6-2 6-3 to Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, who is through to her first grand slam semi-final.
The third-seeded Stephens lacked the swagger she showed through the opening four rounds and wilted on the sun-baked Arthur Ashe Stadium court against Sevastova, who became the first Latvian woman to reach the last four at the US Open.
The 28-year-old Sevastova, who avenged last year's quarter-final loss to Stephens in New York, converted five of her eight break points and saved seven of the nine against her.
"I think it was very physical today," Sevastova, who lost to Stephens during a US Open tune-up in Montreal last month, said during her on-court interview. "It was tough to play."
IWith temperatures hovering above 32.2 degrees Celsius and the tournament's extreme heat policy in effect for a second consecutive day, Sevastova broke an error-prone Stephens to go ahead 3-1.
Stephens then couldn't convert three more chances in the next game, and never got another in the first set.
Her frustration became apparent, whether she was gesturing to her coach, staring in annoyance at deep balls that bounced off the baseline, or just screaming out in general.
Sevastova, who retired from tennis in 2013 due to injuries before returning in 2015, withstood a fightback from her 25-year-old opponent late on in the match but sealed the win on her third match point when Stephens sent a backhand into the net.
"Defending a title is very hard, very difficult. ... I made the most of it this week or the last... 10 days, whatever it was," said Stephens.
"I can be proud of a lot of things that happened the last couple, the matches that I played, so I'm not going to dwell on it. Just keep building."
Next up for Sevastova is the winner of the evening match between six-times champion Serena Williams and Czech eighth seed Karolina Pliskova.
PA
