NEW YORK _ They gave the people what they wanted and needed on an often mesmerizing day and night of tennis at the U.S. Open on Wednesday.
Two enthralling matches pushed two proud champions _ Andy Murray and Serena Williams _ to the brink, requiring a decisive set in both contests and testing their bodies and minds.
Williams emerged to play another day, Murray fell just short.
They pretty much salvaged what had been a recent run of drab matches at the Open. The top-seeded Williams faced her first serious test in the form of No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania and prevailed in their quarterfinal match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Williams is two victories away from her 23rd Grand Slam singles title and seventh U.S. Open championship.
That came after Murray fell to Japan's Kei Nishikori in a five-setter that lasted nearly four hours and turned on a gong.
Halep didn't make it easy on Williams, who lost a set for the first time in five matches and dropped her serve for the first time in the tournament, twice in fact. She went four of 20 on break-point opportunities and hit 18 aces, all in the first and third sets.
"I think there's a huge enjoyment in three-set matches, but I feel like you don't get that appreciation until later," Williams said. "Obviously in the moment you want to win fast and you want to win easy and win in straights."
Halep saved 12 break points in a hard-fought second set, including seven in one game. ""I wasn't very happy about that. I tried not to let that get me down," Williams said.
Williams will face No. 10 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals Thursday night. Pliskova defeated Ana Konjuh of Croatia, 6-2, 6-2, in an earlier quarterfinal.
One reporter brought up the fact that Pliskova has a twin sister and asked Williams how tough it would be for Williams to have "an identical copy" floating around.
"It would be a living hell," Williams said, drawing laughter.
While Halep-Williams featured some superb shot-making, the quarterfinal between Nishikori and Murray inexplicably turned early in the fourth set on a loud noise that sounded a lot like a gong. It went off when Murray had a break point in the third game and the chair umpire ordered the point replayed.
An unnerved Murray went into a free fall _ dropping that game and, in all, losing seven straight games. He recovered sufficiently to make the fifth set a compelling contest. But Nishikori survived his own shaky moments to hang on, winning, 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, in 3 hours 58 minutes.
It has often been said the Open can resemble a Gong Show with the crazy night matches, the sound and noise all over the grounds. Essentially the opposite of Wimbledon.
The U.S. Tennis Association said in a statement, regarding the noise, that one of the three digital audio sound processors in Arthur Ashe Stadium had malfunctioned.
"It's a little bit different that the other Grand Slams," Nishikori said. "I think it's more loud and it's more like, you know, a big party on the court."
Not only did the gong noise get to Murray, a rain delay caused the roof to be closed in the second set.
"Under the roof, he was able to dictate more of the points," Murray said. "He was playing closer to the baseline than me and taking on the ball a little bit more."
This was a rematch of their semifinal meeting at the Olympics last month in Brazil. Murray won that, and, in fact had lost to Nishikori only once in eight matches before Wednesday. He was on a 26-1 run, which included Wimbledon and the gold medal in Rio.
"I have won some over the last few months I should have lost," Murray said.
Nishikori, an Open finalist in 2014, will face No. 3 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the semifinals. Capping the marathon day, Wawrinka defeated wild card Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, the 2009 Open winner, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in match that ended at 1:20 a.m. local time in front of a smattering of fans.
"There were many up and downs. I tried to stay calm," Nishikori said. "I think that's the most important thing I did today."
