Serena Williams is one of the featured players on Day 12 of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing, N.Y., Friday. The Los Angeles native and fourth seed on the women's side faces Italy's Sara Errani, the 10th seed.
The action was intense Thursday night in the men's quarterfinals, as second-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 4 seed David Ferrer won their respective matches and face each other in the semifinals of the Grand Slam tournament.
Djokovic won in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 over Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro to end Day 11. Before Djokovic's victory, Ferrer outlasted eight-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in five sets, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 in a match that lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes. The last set took 82 minutes alone.
Ferrer had six double-faults to his opponent's zero but also won the battle of services aces, 15-10.
Djokovic hit 43 winners to Del Potro's 25 in their match. The winner of Djokovic-Ferrer faces the winner of the Andy Murray-Tomas Berdych match in the U.S. Open final this weekend.
The women's singles semifinals take place Friday. It's top-seeded Viktoria Azarenka vs. No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova, and Williams against the surprise semifinalist, Errani.
The No. 2-seed Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, play for the men's doubles title against Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, the fifth-seeded team.
For more updates on the 2012 U.S. Open, check out SB Nation's tennis hub. Live scores can be viewed at the event's website.