U.S. Open: Simona Halep reaches quarters

Second seed Simona Halep overcame a thigh injury and baking heat before finally beating big-hitting German Sabine Lisicki 6-7(6) 7-5 6-2 to reach the U.S. Open quarter-finals for the first time on Monday.

After dropping the opening set Halep called out the trainer to have treatment on her left thigh and at the end of the second the players left the court when the heat rule came into effect before the exhausted Romanian prevailed in two hours 38 minutes.

"It was a crazy match. I was fighting until the end, I did everything I could to win the match," said Halep.

Her thigh heavily strapped, wounded Halep sensed her opportunity when Lisicki began to cramp in the third set, stretching between every point.

Halep, who converted 10 of 11 break points, claimed the most crucial one at 4-2 then held serve and broke her 24th-seeded opponent again to clinch a last-eight spot at Flushing Meadows.

Lisicki, who holds the women's record for fastest serve and most aces in a match, did not have her big weapon working on Monday as she managed just two aces in the entire match.

Two women's quarter-finals will be Halep against No. 20 Victoria Azarenka, and No. 5 Petra Kvitova against No. 26 Flavia Pennetta.

Azarenka has won two Australian Open titles and twice was the runner-up at the U.S. Open. Kvitova has won Wimbledon twice. Halep was the runner-up at last year's French Open. And Pennetta? Well, she is into her sixth U.S. Open quarter-final in the last seven years.

Pennetta was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against 2011 champion Sam Stosur, the last woman to beat Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows. Kvitova moved into her first quarter-final in New York, a place she freely admits is too noisy and busy for her liking, by defeating British qualifier Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-3.

Azarenka eliminated 46th-ranked American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 6-4 while wearing gauze wrapped around both biceps. Why? Calling the reason "so weird" and "really a little bit embarrassing," Azarenka said the skin on the inside of both arms was bothered by rubbing against her top.