Serena Williams of USA is now one step away from winning her 18th Grand Slam title after winning in the semifinals of the US Open tennis 2014 tournament on Friday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams took control of the match right from the opening set and did not allow Ekaterina Makarova of Russia to get into her rhythm en route to a 6-1, 6-3 win in their semis showdown.
"It feels so good to be here. I'm so happy. I didn't think I would be here today," Williams said via the tournament's website. "She's such an aggressive player and handles everything so well, and I'm just glad I was able to stay really focused."
With the win, Williams is now in a good position to become the first woman to win the US Open tennis for three consecutive years since Chris Evert did it in the 1970 edition of the Grand Slam event.
However, standing in her way is Caroline Wozniacki, who also advanced to the final of the US Open tennis 2014 with a win against Peng Shuai of China, who was forced to retire in the second set of their match due to severe cramping.
Peng grimaced while holding on to her legs and shoulder and was shortly helped off the court with a wheelchair, giving Wozniacki an easy route to the finals, but the 10th-seeded said that it was hard for her to look at her Chinese opponent suffering from heat illness.
"It was really hard to watch for me whenever I saw her collapse on the court," Wozniacki said. "You know, tennis is great, but the health is more important. You know, to see her struggling out there, I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I got the word that she's okay now and just getting cooled down, so that's great to hear."
Wozniacki, who will be playing in a Grand Slam final for the first time since losing to Kim Clijster in the 2009 US Open, is expecting a tough match against Williams.
In other matches, top-seeded Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares won the Mixed Doubles title with a 6-1, 2-6 [11-9] victory against Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzales in the finals.
Check this link for the complete days 12 results, while day 13 schedule are available here.
