FINAL: Vera Zvonareva wins, 6-3, 7-5 over Kaia Kanepi

Vera Zvonareva reached the semifinals in the U.S. Open for the first time by outserving Kaia Kanepi in windy conditions to take a 6-3, 7-5 victory. Zvonareva, who was a Wimbledon finalist earlier this summer, will meet the winner of tonight's quarterfinal match between No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and unseeded Dominika Cibulkova.

Winds gust over 20 miles per hour played havoc with serves for both players, and each one whiffed a groundstroke when the wind turned it into a knuckleball. But in the end, the more experienced Zvonareva handled the pressure and the conditions better.

In the second set, there were six service breaks in the first seven games. But Kanepi was able to square the set at 5-5 and take a 40-15 lead on Zvonareva's serve in the 11th game. However, Kanepi squandered those two break points and wound up losing eight of the final nine points, failing to hold her serve in the 12th game, hitting a backhand wide on match point.