[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Kerber reaches semis as Vinci tripped up by foot fault" ids="82948,82950,82949"]
NEW YORK — Second seed Angelique Kerber was first through to the semifinals of the US Open Tuesday bringing Roberta Vinci's Flushing Meadows dream run to an end with a clinical 7-5, 6-0 win.
The match had looked an intriguing one between Kerber, who is eyeing Serena Williams' world No. 1 ranking, and the 33-year-old Italian Vinci, who discovered a fountain of youth at Flushing Meadows last year where she reached the final.
But a foot fault on set point in the opening set appeared to trip up Vinci and sent her tumbling out of the year's final Grand Slam.
Three times Vinci would break Kerber in the opening set and three times she would allow the German to immediately break back, including once while serving at 5-4 for the set.
But it would be Kerber claiming the decisive break to win the set when Vinci was called for a foot fault on her second serve before sarcastically applauding the line judge as she walked off the court.
The Italian never recovered and Kerber blasted through the second set in 24 minutes to clinch her semifinal spot where she will face the winner between Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki and Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
On Monday, Serena Williams broke through another barrier, her 308th Grand Slam match win taking her past Roger Federer for the most in major tournaments and into the quarterfinals of the US Open.
"Wow, it's really exciting," Williams said of moving out of a tie with Swiss great Federer for most Grand Slam match wins.
"This is where it all started so it's always so magical out here for me — 308 sounds pretty good."
As Williams, never seriously challenged in a 6-2, 6-3 victory over 52nd-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova, sailed on, one of the two players with a chance to topple her from the world No. 1 spot in this tournament bowed out as fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was shocked by 18-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh.
The 6-4, 6-4 triumph avenged a bitter disappointment for Konjuh, who held three match points against Radwanska in the second round at Wimbledon before falling 9-7 in the third round after stepping on a ball and turning her ankle.
With Radwanska out of the picture, second-seeded German Angelique Kerber is now the only player with a chance to end Williams' 186-week reign atop the rankings.
Williams will have a day off before tackling Simona Halep after the fifth-seeded Romanian's 6-2, 7-5 victory over Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro.
The tantalizing prospect of a semifinal clash between Williams and her sister Venus evaporated as the elder Williams fell to hard-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
On he men’s side, second seed and 2012 champion Andy Murray crushed Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to reach a sixth US Open quarterfinal Monday, clocking up a personal fast serve record in the process.
The 29-year-old reigning Wimbledon and Olympic champion stormed to an impressive seventh win in 10 meetings against the 22nd-seeded Dimitrov.
From the moment Murray broke for a 3-1 lead in the first set, on the back of a lung-busting 32-shot rally, the outcome of the Arthur Ashe Stadium clash was never in doubt.
For good measure, Murray sent down his fastest ever serve of 141mph (226.9km/h) at the end of a set where he allowed Dimitrov just five points on his service.
Dimitrov committed 43 unforced errors as Murray set up a last-eight clash with Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up who downed 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
Karlovic fired 21 aces in the contest but Nishikori's 44 winners and a miserly seven unforced errors proved the key.
Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion, became the lowest ranked player in 25 years to reach the quarter-finals.
The 142nd-ranked del Potro was leading eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-3, 3-2 when the Austrian retired with a right knee injury.
Del Potro will face fellow Grand Slam title winner Stan Wawrinka for a semifinal spot.
Wawrinka, a former Australian and French Open champion, reached a fourth successive quarterfinal in New York with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 win over Illya Marchenko, the world No. 63 from Ukraine.
Del Potro is playing just his second Grand Slam event since the 2014 Australian Open.
The first two quarterfinals take place Tuesday when defending champion Novak Djokovic faces France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Lucas Pouille, the conqueror of Rafael Nadal, tackles French compatriot Gael Monfils. — Agencies
Ivanovic shuts down 2016 season
Slumping former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic shut down her 2016 season Tuesday after an injury-hit campaign ended with a first round loss at the US Open.
The 2008 French Open champion said she had taken the decision to stop playing until 2017 on medical advice.
"Unfortunately due to my recurring wrist injury, I have been advised by my doctor to take some time off court in order to recover and regain my full strength," the 28-year-old Serb said in a statement.
"I have also been delaying surgery on my toe which I broke at the Australian Open last year and this is something I will need to take care of in the coming weeks.
"As a result, I am sad to say that I will not be able to continue this season. I had to make this difficult decision so that I can fully recover and play injury-free next year."
