US Open - Williams shows no signs of fading, matches Federer

Initially frustrated by a swirling wind at Arthur Ashe Stadium and shaken by Azarenka's second set comeback from 4-1 down, Williams regained the momentum in the third set with her power and range of strokes propelling her to a 17th Grand Slam title.

Williams will be 32 later this month but she seems far from even contemplating life after tennis.

"I feel great. I have never felt better. I feel really fit," she said. "I can play a tournament like this, singles, doubles, with tough, tough schedules. For the most part, I felt really good.

"I haven't felt like this in a number of years. I'm excited about the possibilities. I don't know what can happen. I just keep playing and do the best that I can."

Certainly Azarenka, who put up a brave fight throughout and looks easily the most likely to take over Williams' mantle whenever she does retire, had no doubts about the qualities of her opponent.

"She's a champion, and she knows how to repeat that. She knows what it takes to get there," said the Belarusian.

"I think it's incredible what she's achieving. She's playing definitely her best tennis right now. It is just really exciting for me to be able to compete against that type of player who can be the greatest of all time."

The 17th Slam victory puts Williams on a par with Roger Federer among contemporary players of both genders and brings her within one title of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, the fourth most successful women of all-time.

"It's an honour to be even with Roger," said Williams, "He's been such a great champion throughout the years, and he's just an unbelievable competitor and he's still playing, and he can probably still win more. ...

"He's just been so incredibly consistent, so we have had really different careers," Williams said.

"Then to be compared with Chrissy and Martina - not yet, because I'm still not quite there yet. I can't necessarily compare myself to them, because, you know, numbers-wise they're still greater."

But while she is willing to contemplate history, she is less fond of thinking about what all her success has brought her.

Williams picked up $3.6 million in prize money for her win combined with her bonus from securing the U.S. Open Series of events, which took her past the $50 million mark in career prize money.

"I don't play tennis for the money. I honestly love to play. I love Grand Slams," she said. "When I grew up playing tennis in Compton, I just never thought about any of this. I didn't even know all this came with everything.

"I think my dad got me into tennis because of the money, but me being naive and silly, I never thought about it."

Winning was always the aim, she said.

"I wanted to do what (sister) Venus does. I want to win and I want to do more and I want to do more," Williams said.

"To this day I have never ever picked up a check in my life. I remember back in the day before wiring they used to mail it because I just would forget it.

"Someone told me today I passed 50 (million), but half of that goes to my Uncle Sam. I love him. I'm always giving him half my money," she said with a smile.

What Williams does appreciate though is her ability to have been a winner at Arthur Ashe Stadium from the age of 17 to 31.

"I have won this tournament over three decades, '90s, the 2000s, and this one. You can only do that when you're younger and older, so I'm happy that I have had this opportunity."

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US Open - Williams shows no signs of fading, matches Federer

Initially frustrated by a swirling wind at Arthur Ashe Stadium and shaken by Azarenka's second set comeback from 4-1 down, Williams regained the momentum in the third set with her power and range of strokes propelling her to a 17th Grand Slam title.

Williams will be 32 later this month but she seems far from even contemplating life after tennis.

"I feel great. I have never felt better. I feel really fit," she said. "I can play a tournament like this, singles, doubles, with tough, tough schedules. For the most part, I felt really good.

"I haven't felt like this in a number of years. I'm excited about the possibilities. I don't know what can happen. I just keep playing and do the best that I can."

Certainly Azarenka, who put up a brave fight throughout and looks easily the most likely to take over Williams' mantle whenever she does retire, had no doubts about the qualities of her opponent.

"She's a champion, and she knows how to repeat that. She knows what it takes to get there," said the Belarusian.

"I think it's incredible what she's achieving. She's playing definitely her best tennis right now. It is just really exciting for me to be able to compete against that type of player who can be the greatest of all time."

The 17th Slam victory puts Williams on a par with Roger Federer among contemporary players of both genders and brings her within one title of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, the fourth most successful women of all-time.

"It's an honour to be even with Roger," said Williams, "He's been such a great champion throughout the years, and he's just an unbelievable competitor and he's still playing, and he can probably still win more. ...

"He's just been so incredibly consistent, so we have had really different careers," Williams said.

"Then to be compared with Chrissy and Martina - not yet, because I'm still not quite there yet. I can't necessarily compare myself to them, because, you know, numbers-wise they're still greater."

But while she is willing to contemplate history, she is less fond of thinking about what all her success has brought her.

Williams picked up $3.6 million in prize money for her win combined with her bonus from securing the U.S. Open Series of events, which took her past the $50 million mark in career prize money.

"I don't play tennis for the money. I honestly love to play. I love Grand Slams," she said. "When I grew up playing tennis in Compton, I just never thought about any of this. I didn't even know all this came with everything.

"I think my dad got me into tennis because of the money, but me being naive and silly, I never thought about it."

Winning was always the aim, she said.

"I wanted to do what (sister) Venus does. I want to win and I want to do more and I want to do more," Williams said.

"To this day I have never ever picked up a check in my life. I remember back in the day before wiring they used to mail it because I just would forget it.

"Someone told me today I passed 50 (million), but half of that goes to my Uncle Sam. I love him. I'm always giving him half my money," she said with a smile.

What Williams does appreciate though is her ability to have been a winner at Arthur Ashe Stadium from the age of 17 to 31.

"I have won this tournament over three decades, '90s, the 2000s, and this one. You can only do that when you're younger and older, so I'm happy that I have had this opportunity."

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US Open - Wawrinka steps out of Federer shadow into semi-finals

Wawrinka even received a congratulatory text message upon reaching his first US semi-final from five-time US Open champion Federer, who left the stage to Wawrinka after an early dismissal from Flushing Meadows.

After Federer's shock loss to Spain's Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, Wawrinka continued his breakout year with a display of supreme ball-striking to dominate Murray in two hours and 15 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Wawrinka started the year with a bang, pushing world number one Novak Djokovic to 12-10 in the fifth set at the Australian Open. He has since pushed his world ranking to number 10.

Another jump is guaranteed after he lasted longer than Federer at a US for the first time in his career.

"It's my moment and I'm enjoying it a lot," said Wawrinka, who added that he never resented Federer's tremendous success.

"I'm really thankful for him because he has helped me a lot. But today, for sure it's my moment. Roger texted me straight after the match. He told me congrats."

Wawrinka beat Murray without facing a break point on serve.

He said the most pleasing aspect was controlling the nerves that have gotten the better of him in the past.

"I was dealing with the pressure," the 28-year-old said.

"Normally I can be a little bit nervous and I can lose a few games because of that, but today I was just focused on my game.

"It's amazing for me to be in my first semi-final of a US, especially after beating Andy Murray, the defending champion. He won Wimbledon, too. To beat him in three sets, the way I was playing today, is quite good for me."

Wawrinka, who has developed one of the most stylish single-handed backhands in tennis, hit 45 winners to Murray's 15 to leave the Scotsman scrambling in defence.

"I'm quite happy with my backhand," said Wawrinka, who abandoned the two-hand backhand when he was 11. "Sometimes it's not that easy, especially to return the serve."

Wawrinka will play either Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open winner, or Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in Saturday's semi-finals.

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Tennis-Wawrinka carries Swiss hopes in absence of Federer

By Will Swanton

NEW YORK, Sept 3 | Wed Sep 4, 2013 5:42am BST

NEW YORK, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka spared a thought for an absent countryman after he powered through a high-quality match against Czech Tomas Berdych on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open.

The ninth seed beat the fifth seeded Berdych 3-6 6-1 7-6(6) 6-2 in two hours and 47 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Wawrinka, the player constantly living in the shadow of 17-time grand slam winner Roger Federer in his homeland, was blown off the court by Berdych in the first set.

But in a match featuring superb ball striking and a combined 68 winners, Wawrinka's consistency proved the difference against the tall Czech.

He closed out the match by breaking Berdych's serve for the sixth time to set up a quarter-final against Britain's defending champion Andy Murray.

It is the first time Wawrinka has progressed further at a major championship that Federer, who was ousted by Spain's Tommy Robredo in the fourth round.

"It's a different situation, for sure," Wawrinka told reporters. "I'm really happy for myself this year, with what I'm doing right now, but I would prefer to have him still playing in the tournament.

"I watched his match yesterday and it was not that good. I was sad for him, because he's a good friend and I like when he's winning grand slam titles. I hope he will come back stronger."

Wawrinka said he was in career-best form ahead of his clash with Murray.

"I think I play my best tennis ever," he said.

"Andy is a really good player. We practice a lot together. We have some really great battles when we play each other. I like to play him. I like his game. I think if I start well, if I stay with him, I have a good chance.

"I need to start well to show him I'm going to be there." (Editing by Patrick Johnston)

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US Open - Day eight order of play: Federer on court

Arthur Ashe Stadium

11 am (4pm UK)

Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) v Alison Riske (US)

Not before 12:30 pm (5:30pm UK)

2-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) v 13-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)

7-Roger Federer (Switzerland) v 19-Tommy Robredo (Spain)

7 pm (midnight UK)

2-Rafa Nadal (Spain) v 22-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany)

1-Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (US) v 12-Colin Fleming/Jonathan Marray (Britain)

Louis Armstrong Stadium

11 am (4pm UK)

21-Simona Halep (Romania) v Flavia Pennetta (Italy)

Not before 1 pm (6pm UK)

Serena Williams/Venus Williams (US) v 11-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia)/Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic)

8-Richard Gasquet (France) v 10-Milos Raonic (Canada)

Grandstand

11 am (4pm)

10-Roberta Vinci (Italy) v Camila Giorgi (Italy)

4-David Ferrer (Spain) v 18-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia)

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US Open - Federer races through in 81 minutes

Playing the closing contest of Saturday's night programme, Federer ran through games as though he had a taxi cab waiting outside the stadium with the meter running and hurtled past the unseeded Frenchman in 81 minutes.

"I like it like this," said Federer. "I like three hours, five hours, too, as long as I end up winning them. But no doubt about it, you do feel more of the show factor at night than during the day.

"But it does feel great just for confidence, and I had a lot of fun out there."

The one-sided victory moved Federer, the greatest Grand Slam men's title winner of them all with 17, into a fourth-round clash with Spain's Tommy Robredo, who earlier beat British qualifier Dan Evans.

The 32-year-old Swiss has won all 10 of his previous matches against Robredo.

Federer might not want to get ahead of himself, no matter how quickly he moves past opponents, but it was hard not to notice that he was now one step away from a potential quarter-final showdown with rival Rafa Nadal.

Strange as it may seem for rivals who have squared off 31 times over their careers, five-times US Open champion Federer has never played 2010 winner Nadal at Flushing Meadows.

"Clearly (I) follow the progress of the players, but today I didn't see anything during the day," Federer said.

"I think I only start really focusing on it once I'm really right there, like the moment I would win my next round and he did the same.

"(But) I have gone through that my entire career, people talking about our matches even before the tournament started," he added.

"Clearly I think we both hope it's going to happen this time for the first time in New York."

Federer said he had several things working in his favour against Mannarino on Saturday.

"I was able to really use my serve well, because it was breezy tonight again so I was able to use the wind a bit better. Maybe I had a bit more variation than him that allowed me more margin in my game,” he said.

"Once I had the first set I was able to play with the lead, which makes things a little more easy as well."

It got so easy for Federer that he yielded just 11 points to the Frenchman in the second set. In the match, the Swiss slashed 34 winners to eight for his 25-year-old opponent.

Federer showed absolutely no signs of the back issues that have limited him at times in 2013, a year that has seen him win just one tournament title and his U.S. Open seeding slip to seventh, his lowest mark in a decade.

A second-round elimination at Wimbledon led some to question whether the Swiss master was slowing down.

The masterclass he gave on centre court of the National Tennis Center seemed to allay those concerns.

At one stage, Federer was playing at such a pace the local broadcaster was unable to get through their commercials before the players were back on court and fans watching on television rejoined the match in the middle of the next game.

Federer said he still got a charge out of the big-night atmosphere under the lights in Arthur Ashe.

"In this stadium, with this crowd, it's always very particular, clearly, because it is the biggest stadium in the world, it is New York City, and you don't ever know how many times more you're going to play on this court.

"You always want to enjoy it."

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