Pablo Carreno Busta outlasted an erratic Denis Shapovalov 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 0-6 6-3 in a seesaw battle to advance to his second US Open semi-final on Wednesday (NZ time).
The 29-year-old Spaniard, the oldest of the men's quarter-finalists, had looked down and out when his Canadian opponent served him a bagel in the fourth set.
However, after getting some treatment to his lower back, 2017 semi-finalist Carreno Busta fought back gamely to seal the deciding set in a match that lasted over four hours.
The 20th seed, who is eyeing a place in his maiden Grand Slam final, will face Alexander Zverev in the last four, after the German took down Borna Coric 1-6 7-6(5) 7-6(1) 6-3 earlier in the day.
After a slow start, Zverev raised his game as the match wore on and showed more poise in the crucial moments against the 27th seed, to become the first German to reach the last four at the US Open since Boris Becker in 1995.
Coric made a flying start to the match, needing only 24 minutes to wrap up the first set during which he took advantage of 12 unforced errors from a flat Zverev.
But the German showed plenty of fight in the second set as he came back from a break down and overcame four double-faults and 15 unforced errors, to level the match by winning the tiebreak, before unleashing an extended roar.
A fired-up Zverev was put to the test again in a pressure-packed third set where, after trading early breaks with Coric, he twice had to serve to stay in the set before going on to cruise through another tiebreak.
Zverev opened the fourth set emphatically as he sent a volley past Coric to take the opening game to love.
He saved four break points in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead and then broke for a 5-3 cushion that sent him on his way to victory.
Up next for Zverev, who reached his first career Grand Slam semi-final at this year's Australian Open, will be either Canadian Denis Shapovalov or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Reuters/Newshub.
