Jeff Tarango
Former professional tennis player on 5 live sports extra at Flushing Meadows

Sloane Stephens was talking about how she sat around in a cast watching the tennis.

Before she got injured she said tennis was just a thing she did, but when the US Open came up and she wasn't in it she said she started crying.

She wanted to be back in the game more than anyone, and she will be the crowd favourite today.

BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"One minute," chirps Mariana Alves in the umpire's chair.

Just enough time to flag up that BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller and Jeff Tarango are on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra.

Tune in via your digital wireless or your new-fangled wifi and button at the top of this page.

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Sloane Stephens' father was John Stephens, a celebrated NFL running back.

Sloane did not really know him until she was 13, when, prompted by his diagnosis with a degenerative bone disease, he got back in touch with his estranged daughter, gently rebuilding their relationship over the phone.

Then, when Sloane was aged 16, he died in a car crash.

It left Stephens with some difficult unanswered questions about her family.

Read more in this excellent New York Times article from the time., external

Dennis Ethan: Sloane Stephens vs Anastasija Sevastova should be fantastic. Head wants the Latvian to win but heart wants Sloane. Bring it on.

Sloane Stephens is first up on the pre-match cliche bingo.

The American fills the card pretty much, being excited to be here and looking forward to playing great tennis.

She has also enjoyed her time on court and will be keeping things super simple.

Anastasija Sevastova has more of a twinkle in her eye, relishing her role as the out-of-towner.

"I am gong to be more relaxed I think," she says as she reflects on the experience of making the same stage at last year's tournament.

"I hope we play some fun points and the crowd enjoy it."

Image source, Getty Images

In the first match on Arthur Ashe today, Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta became the first man through to the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-4 6-2 win over Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.

The 26-year-old reached the last eight of a Grand Slam for the first time at Roland Garros this year and now he is into uncharted territory once again.

He will play either Sam Querrey or Kevin Anderson next. Time to load up the serving machine either way.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro are all over the opposite side of the draw.

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Here is the tale of the tape from the US Open so far for these two...

Stephens - Sevastova

World ranking: 83-17

Games won/lost: 57/34 - 54/32

Sets won/lost: 8/2- 8/1

Total time on court: 7hrs - 6hrs 2min

Average rank of opponent: 33-95

And next up for the winner will be either Petra Kvitova or Venus Williams - the only Grand Slam champions left in the draw - in the semi-finals.

Image source, Getty Images

Last year when she turned up to the US Open, the official tournament website could not initially find a profile picture for Anastasija Sevastova.

And the Latvian understood perfectly.

She had actually retired from tennis back in May 2013 after a wretched run of injuries and instead focused her efforts on studying leisure management.

But she decided to give it another go in January 2015.

Come Flushing Meadows 2016 and she went from unknown avatar to back-page splash as she beat Garbine Muguruza and Johanna Konta on her way to a last-eight defeat by Caroline Wozniacki.

A year on and she is back. And, after ending Maria Sharapova's spotlight and stardust Grand Slam comeback, is looking to go one better.

Image source, Getty

There aren't enough characters in the game, they said.

Well, these two have shown more character than than a Disneyland parade.

First up, Sloane Stephens.

For the first part of this year, she was hobbling around in a protective boot after surgery to fix a stress fracture on her left foot.

No matter.

As her ranking plummeted south of 900, the 24-year-old did not sulk and stew, instead turning up as a reporter on the Tennis Channel covering tournaments in Indian Wells, Miami and Charleston.

“I had such a good time being able to spend a month with Paul [Annacone], Tracy [Austin], Lindsay [Davenport] and Mary [Carillo],” Stephens said.

“I was in a very sad place in my life. I had a big boot on and a huge walking thing, and it was just not fun. They made it a really good time for me. It was actually the highlight of my year so far.

“We talked about tennis all day long,” Stephens said. “There’s really nothing better.”

App users may need to click through to view Sloane Stephens' Instagram post from her time on the Tennis Channel.

Image source, Getty Images

The unseeded v the unexpected.

The first of today's quarter-finals pitches together Sloane Stephens - who had slipped behind the likes of Taylor Townsend, Madison Keys and Cici Bellis as the next American great hope in recent years - and Anastasia Sevastova - who brought Maria Sharapova's Grand Slam comeback to a crunching halt on Monday, three and a half years after she retired from the sport.

It was not the last-eight meeting we were expecting. Instead it is the one we didn't know we wanted.