Bopanna-Sutjiadi lose in US Open semifinal

New York: Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Indonesian partner Aldila Sutjiadi lost to the American pair of Donald Young and Taylor Townsend 3-6, 4-6 in the mixed doubles semifinal of the US Open here.

In the quarterfinals, Bopanna-Sutjiadi had recorded a hard-fought win over Ebden and Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova in a contest lasting more than one hour and 30 minutes.

Frances Tiafoe secured his place in the semifinals of the US Open after a quarterfinal win against Grigor Dimitrov, who was forced to retire due to injury, with Tiafoe leading 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 4-1, here at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Bulgarian, who had been battling for supremacy throughout the match, began to struggle noticeably in the latter stages of the third set. During the eighth game, Dimitrov’s movement became increasingly laboured, and he eventually called for the physio.

Despite his best efforts to continue, Dimitrov retired after three hours and four minutes of intense play.

Emma Navarro, seeded 13th, outclassed Spain’s Paula Badosa in the singles quarterfinals after coming from 5-1 behind in the second set to book spot in her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.

Playing in front of her home crowd, Navarro registered a 6-2, 7-5 win after scripting an astonishing comeback in the second set to progress to the last four of the US Open. The result will guarantee her a debut top 10 ranking next week. The 23-year-old American is continuing her breakthrough season which saw her lifting the first WTA Tour title in Hobart in January.