Sloane Stephens has continued her remarkable comeback by defeating Anastasija Sevastova to reach the semi-finals of the US Open.
The American only returned to the tour at Wimbledon after nearly a year out with a foot injury.
It has taken her only a handful of tournaments to get into her stride and Stephens will play in her second grand semi-final after beating Sevastova on Tuesday 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7/4).
The 24-year-old was hailed as the natural successor to the Williams sisters when she made the Australian Open semi-finals and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2013.
"I'm getting teary-eyed. This is just incredible. When I started my comeback at Wimbledon I could have never even have dreamed of something like this happening, making the semi-finals of my home slam, my favourite tournament," Stephens said.
"A month ago I was really worried. I was worried about my protected ranking and not being able to play. Once I realised I have it good, my life is good, I play tennis every day, that released a lot of the stress. And now, bam, through to the semi-finals."
Stephens' victory keeps alive the home nation's hopes of a clean sweep in the women's semi-finals.
Four Americans in the last eight is the most since 2002, with Venus Williams, CoCo Vandeweghe and Madison Keys looking to follow Stephens into the semis.
Sevastova defeated Maria Sharapova in the last round, working her way into the match after being out-hit early on, and it was the same at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday.
It looked as if Sevastova was heading for victory at 3-1 in the final set but Stephens recovered to force a tie-break.
And she took her first match point with a clean backhand winner down the line to set up a semi-final against either Williams or Petra Kvitova.
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