US Open has reached the last leg, and the finalists of both men’s and women’s singles categories have been decided. In the women’s singles, Sloane Stephen faces Madison Keys in an all American final on Saturday. And in the men’s singles World number one Rafael Nadal will face surprise finalist Kevin Anderson. Nadal defeated Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-final whereas Anderson defeated another Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
In the first semi-final, Anderson faced Carreno Busta at Arthur Ashe stadium. Anderson defeated the Spanish 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first ever Grand Slam final. 28th seed Anderson lost the first semi-final, and it looked like it would yet again be a setback for the South African, but he fought back and won the next three sets consecutively. Anderson became the first South African to reach the final of a Grand Slam in 30 years. Anderson came through the bottom half of the draw which became open after Andy Murray pulled out of the tournament. Anderson became the lowest ranked player (32) to reach a Grand Slam final since the rankings began in 1973.
In the second semi-final which was a repeat of the 2009 US Open semifinal, Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. 2009 was the year when Del Potro won the US Open when he beat Roger Federer in the final. Del Potro came into this match after defeating Roger Federer in the quarterfinal. This time, however, he could only manage to beat Federer in the tournament. He admitted that he came into the match pretty “tired.” On the other hand Rafael Nadal won nine games in a row at one stage on his way to the final. Two time US Open winner, Nadal will be looking forward to add another US Open trophy to his cabinet against a less favourite Anderson in the final. If Nadal wins this would be his 16th Grand Slam trophy.
The Indian representation at the last major of the year also ended on Day 12 of the tournament. Fourth seed Sania Mirza and her Chinese partner Shuai Peng bowed out in the semi-finals of the women’s doubles category against the second seed and Mirza’s former team mate Martina Hingis and Yung-Ja Chan. They lost the match 6-4, 6-4.