Pliskova into US Open semi-finals

A loud noise burst through the air in the stadium while Konjuh was serving for the match, but nothing could unsettle her, as Radwanska could not put a return over the net at 40-15, sending Konjuh to the next round.

“I just couldn’t do any more, I guess, today”, Radwanska said.

And while Konjuh made Pliskova up her game slightly in the second set, a break of serve to make it 3-2 proved enough to end the resistance. “I think I didn’t have that many matches as I should”.

In all, Pliskova was just too dominant with her serve, and was able to convert on four of her nine break point chances to control the play in each set.

Until this tournament, she never had been past the third round in 17 appearances at majors.

Also reaching the quarter-finals with a victory on Monday was 2014 French Open runner-up Simona Halep, who eliminated 11th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5. But all those victories came with a cost – a tour-high 69 matches, and the long season had started to wear on his body.

The fifth-seeded Romanian won 6-2, 7-5 on Monday.

The power-hitting teenager, who became the first Croatian woman to reach the quarter-finals at a U.S. Open, was spurred on by a second-round loss to Radwanska at Wimbledon, where she held three match points before falling 9-7 in the third set. The 2009 U.S. Open champ missed the tournament the last two years after surgeries on his left wrist.

Still exhausted after the stunning run to an Olympic silver medal that announced him as a contender again, he got a huge break Monday in spending only 72 minutes on court.

Del Potro got a huge break Monday when he spent only 72 minutes on court. She could face No. 1 Serena Williams next. He has played just 10-plus sets through four rounds, but still expects to be the underdog. But Pliskova barely wilted and won the set on serve, when she watched Konjuh smack a forehand wide, one of 27 unforced errors by Konjuh. Del Potro recalled in his on-court interview after the match how sad he was to watch the U.S. Open on TV, stuck at home the last two years.

Too often, however, Konjuh was a victim of her own mistakes. Sixth-seeded Venus is on first against 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, who is in the round of 16 at a major for the first time.

It happened during her fourth-round battle against No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Arthur Ashe Stadium, when Konjuh tossed the ball up to serve, only to be interrupted by a loud courtside music that momentarily shook her up.