New York: Teenager Yanina Wickmayer is in her first Grand Slam semi-final 10 years after she and her father left behind their lives in Belgium to chase her tennis dream in Florida.
The unseeded 19-year-old beat Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 6-4 at the US Open on Wednesday. She joins fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters in the semis and is guaranteed to face another teen — American Melanie Oudin or No. 9 seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Ranked 50th, Wickmayer had never made it past the second round at a Grand Slam tournament.
When Wickmayer was nine, her mother died of cancer. Even at that young age, she realised she needed to get away from home, to start anew.
Her father, who owned a construction company, quit his job so they could move to the Tampa area. They left behind their house, their cars, their friends.
On Wednesday, Wickmayer rallied to win the last five games of the second set to close out the 52nd-ranked Bondarenko of Ukraine.
"I missed a few opportunities," Wickmayer said. "I was pretty mad at myself. I kept fighting and kept hanging in there and just came back."
Later Wednesday, the 17-year-old, unseeded Oudin will try to keep her dream run going with a quarterfinal match against the 19-year-old Wozniacki.
Clijsters, another unseeded surprise, beat No. 18 Li Na 6-2, 6-4 Tuesday to set up a semi-final meeting against No. 2 Serena Williams, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over 10th-seeded Flavia Pennetta.
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