Italian 13th seed Sara Errani became the first player to reach the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open by ending the rejuvenated run of veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia on Sunday.
Errani, playing deftly defensive tennis, withstood a brilliant second set from the 32-year-old Croat to register a 6-3 2-6 6-0 victory to launch the Day Seven program on another windy day at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 121st-ranked Lucic-Baroni, who bounced second seed Simona Halep in the third round for her best grand slam advance since reaching 1999 Wimbledon semi-finals, made 46 winners and registered 69 unforced errors against the steady Italian.
Errani, winner of five grand slam doubles titles and looking for her first slam singles triumph, will play either fifth-seeded French Open champion Maria Sharapova or former world number one Caroline Wozniacki, the 10th seed.
