For both, it’s a chance to reclaim No. 1.

Williams, 26, could state her longevity by returning to No. 1 after bouncing around beneath the throne for five years since toppling in 2003. She could extend her family’s improbable story by claiming a 16th Williams Grand Slam singles title, nine for herself and seven for her sister, Venus.

“I’ve been way more consistent,” said Serena, whose sister Isha Price has noticed the return of her joy five years after the murder of their sister, Yetunde Price.

“Playing a lot more, having more consistent results, and just putting in the effort ... it’s like I think my results are finally showing,” Williams said. “You know, if I don’t practice, then it’s like my mind goes nuts.”

Jankovic, 23, might take her first Grand Slam trophy if she plays the kind of defence that felled Olympic champion Elena Dementieva in the semi-finals. She could bring her homeland a third Grand Slam singles title this year, with Novak Djokovic having won the Australian Open and Ana Ivanovic the French. “I know that I can do it, and that’s what matters,” said Jankovic.

Jankovic beat Williams on the way to the semi-finals of the Australian Open in January but accepts she will need to be at her best to repeat the feat. “If you want to really win when she’s in form, you really have to be on the top of your level and you really have to go for every shot and really have to run a lot. So it will be difficult, but it’s doable.”

Murray close to Nadal upset

In the Saturday night unfinished semi-final between Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, the Scot was leading, 6-2, 7-6 (5), 2-3, but Nadal up a break in the third set. Murray, playing his first Grand Slam semi-final at 21, demonstrated his intent to cause serious commotion within the top five, which he’ll join at No. 4 next week.

He served so commandingly that No. 1 Nadal, the French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic champion, found zero break-point chances in the first two sets. Nadal then muffed two second-serve returns in the second set tie-break, hitting one so flimsily that Murray mauled it, and the other into the net as a 5-4 lead became a 7-5 loss.

Just as it seemed Nadal really had grown drained from his bruising summer, the global capital of effort broke Murray in the first game of the third set before the storm butted in. By the time Nadal and Murray resume, Federer will have rested 26 hours since hitting one last forehand past Novak Djokovic.

Huber-Black take title

Zimbabwe’s Cara Black and her American partner Liezel Huber took the women’s doubles title in New York on Sunday with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Lisa Raymond of America and Australian Samantha Stosur. Black and Huber, the top seeds, had lost in straight sets to the same opposition in the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this year, but on Sunday, their attacking play ensured meant there was no stopping their march to the title.