Wozniacki claims semi spot at windy US Open

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki defied swirling winds gusting over 30mph to book her place in the semi-finals of the US Open.

Wozniacki beat the unseeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-2 7-5 at Flushing Meadows and will now face Russia's Vera Zvonareva for a place in Saturday's final.

'This felt like playing in a hurricane,' admitted Wozniacki, who lost in the final in New York 12 months ago to Belgium's Kim Clijsters.

'But it was the same for both players and I'm so happy to get through. When we were practising I thought "Oh, it's not that windy today" but when we came out here I knew it was about just surviving, getting as many balls back in the court as possible and just run.'

Wozniacki had dropped just 10 games in her previous four matches - seven of those coming against former champion Maria Sharapova in the last round - and looked on course for another comfortable win after taking the opening set with three breaks of serve.

However, Cibulkova had knocked out another former champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the fourth round and recovered from an early break of serve to make life difficult for Wozniacki in the second set.

But the diminutive world number 45 was unable to get the better of Wozniacki's famed defence when it mattered most and it was the 20-year-old Dane who forged the decisive break in the 11th game before holding her nerve to serve out for the match.

Asked about facing Zvonareva in the semi-finals, Wozniacki said: 'She's on a winning streak, playing really well, really aggressively, so it's going to be a really tough match.

'She made the finals of Wimbledon and is now in the semi-finals here so she's a great player and I'm going to go out there and do my best.'

Zvonareva herself feels she still has more to offer after earlier beating Estonia's Kaia Kanepi 6-3 7-5 in a scrappy contest on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 26-year-old, who lost to Serena Williams in the final at the All England Club in July, said: 'I don't question myself, I always believed in myself.

'I always believe. I'm just going out there and trying my best in every match. It's been working pretty good for me so far. I guess

'I'm improving, I'm still improving. I've been playing for a while but I'm still out there and still working hard. I'm still improving and that feels great. I can go out there and I will try to work even more.'

Kanepi, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year, admitted the wind had played a major part in the match, adding: 'It was blowing in every way. When I played against Jelena (Jankovic) it was the same thing, so I was a little used to it.

'But today was tough. I just didn't find the rhythm and the control of the ball. I can't blame the wind for everything, I didn't play well, too. Vera obviously played very well.'

Kanepi came back from losing the first set of her previous match 6-0 against Yanina Wickmayer but said: 'I might pull one match back, but I can't pull them back all the time. I still have to start from the beginning.

'Overall I'm very happy. I had quite a stable tournament.'