‘Little Italy’ moves to Flushing Meadows

Errani ousted sixth seed Angelique Kerber on Monday and was followed on to Louis Armstrong Stadium by Vinci, who defeated world No 2 and Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska to reach her first singles grand slam quarter-final. Both women have made big strides this season both individually and together. Errani made the quarter-finals at the Australian Open and then went on a brilliant run to the final of the French Open, where she lost to Maria Sharapova.

Vinci reached her first fourth round at a slam in singles at Wimbledon while, as a pair, they made the final in Australia and then won the women’s doubles title at Roland Garros. Vinci, the 20th seed, has made quiet progress through the draw but she certainly made a statement on Monday with a performance full of guile to beat an out-of-sorts Radwanska 6-1, 6-4.

Vinci had lost all their four previous matches, and she said: “I’m so happy, so excited. For sure an Italian goes to the semi-finals so I’m happy to play Sara. She’s my best friend. I’m so pleased she won today.”

Errani was involved in a closer match against Kerber, whose brilliant year began here 12 months ago with a surprise run to the semi-finals.

But Errani turned the tables, edging a very tight first set and then proving the stronger in the second to win 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

Errani has credited her turnaround in form largely to her switch from a Wilson racket to Babolat, and the tenth seed said: “This year with this racket made me feel different on the court. This is the best year of my life.”

Yesterday the Italian duo teamed up to reach the doubles semi-finals together. Their 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) victory over the 11th-seeded German pair Julia Goerges and Kveta Peschke assured Errani of moving up to No 1 in the doubles rankings, with Vinci at No 2.

The other singles quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw will pit fourth seed and title favourite Serena Williams against Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic.