Title-holder Marin Cilic reaches US Open semis and veteran Vinci joins him as they overcome French foes
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Kristina Mladenovic provide stern opposition in first of day's quarter-finals
Defending champion Marin Cilic and unseeded Roberta Vinci were the first through to the semi-finals of the US Open on Tuesday, and both needed to go the distance against tough French resistance.
With Serena Williams and sister Venus and a host of A-list celebrities waiting in the wings along with a prime time television audience for their marquee semi-final, Cilic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga kept everything on hold as the ninth-seeded Croat battled his way to a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(3) 6-4 win over the scrappy Frenchman.
Earlier, Italian Vinci needed a similar gritty effort to see off another player from France, Kristina Mladenovic, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 on another sizzling hot day at Flushing Meadows.
Cilic squandered three match points in the fourth set but came up strong in the fifth to stretch his Flushing Meadows win streak to 12 matches.
Tsonga saved two match points in the 10th game before holding for 5-5, and another in the 12th game to force a tiebreak that he won 7-3 to set up the climactic fifth set.
