Williams, Stephens and Querrey into US Open QFS

American tennis can now boast two women in the US Open quarterfinals, as both Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens came through three-set battles to get through Round 4.

The pair used identical 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 scorelines – Williams over Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro and Stephens over No. 30 Julia Goerges of Germany – to send the fans home happy on Day 7.

The great Williams expected to be here. Stephens did not.

Six months ago, the 24-year-old was in a wheelchair, recovering from surgery on a left-foot stress fracture. On Sunday, she was headlining Louis Armstrong Stadium, knocking out her second seeded opponent in three matches.

When she crushed a smash into the stands on match point, Stephens' exuberant celebration showed just how far she has come to reach this, her first US Open quarterfinal.   

"I'm just really happy," she beamed. "Obviously, before or when I started playing again at Wimbledon and D.C., I didn't expect much. I was just playing and having fun, having a good time."

The fun will continue against Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova, the No. 16 seed, on Tuesday.
For Williams, this marks her 12th New York quarterfinals, and the two-time champion now has her eighth Grand Slam title firmly in her sights.

After falling short in the final at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, she will look to use the home crowd to lift her to her first major title since 2008. At 37, Williams has the opportunity to become the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam in tennis history.

The No. 9 seed will have her hands full in the quarterfinals against a resurgent Petra Kvitova, who took out the hottest player on tour in Spain's Garbiñe Muguruza to open the Arthur Ashe Stadium evening session.

American Sam Querrey, meantime, closed the night in style, blitzing Mischa Zverev, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to his first US Open quarterfinal. With the win, Querrey assured himself of becoming the No. 1 American man when the next rankings are released. He is also the first U.S. man to reach the US Open quarterfinals since Andy Roddick and John Isner accomplished the feat in 2011.

On Day 8, three more American women will try to earn a quarterfinals bid inside Arthur Ashe Stadium: No. 15 Madison Keys, No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe and unseeded Jennifer Brady.

Brady will open proceedings against world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, followed by Vandeweghe's duel with Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Keys is slated for the evening finale, with a marquee matchup against Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No. 4 seed.

Should all three come through, the US would have five American women in a Slam quarterfinal round for the first time since the 2002 US Open.