Sania-Hingis in last four

• Sania Mirza remained on course for her second successive Grand Slam title after reaching the semifinals with Swiss partner Martina Hingis. Top seeds Sania and Hingis saw off the challenge of Chinese Taipei’s Yung-Jan Chan and Hao-Ching Chan 7-6(5) 6-1 in the quarterfinals. The Wimbledon champions next face 11th-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta. Meanwhile, Rohan Bopanna’s campaign in the men’s doubles ended. Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea suffered a 7-6 6-3 loss to the unseeded pair of Dominic Inglot of Great Britain and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt. In the junior girls’ singles, Karman Kaur Thandi reached the third round with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over E Levashova

Serena and Venus Williams added another chapter to what the world No. 1 claims to be the greatest story in tennis when she out slugged her sister to reach the semifinals of the US Open.

The story that is unfolding at Flushing Meadows this fortnight could well provide a chapter all its own with plot centering around what was an enthralling 27th meeting between the siblings.

“I think it’s the greatest story in tennis because we really — you know, with how we started and how we grew up and how we were able to win championships and be, you know, such inspirations for so many women across the globe, I mean, it doesn’t get better than that,” Serena is reported to have said.

Certainly Serena seemed inspired as she and Venus played with the fire and passion that had been missing from many of their other 26 head-to-head meetings. But never before had so much been riding on the result.

A win by 35-year-old Venus would move her a step closer to a first Grand Slam since 2008 Wimbledon but would scuttle Serena’s chances of joining their sport’s most exclusive club of calendar year Grand Slam winners which includes just three members — Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf.

Certainly there are no secrets between the sisters who knew exactly what to expect having played each other since they were first handed racquets and started playing on the cracked public courts of their Los Angeles neighborhood.