Venus Williams has advanced to her 23rd Grand Slam semifinal and is now one step closer to reaching her third Grand Slam final of 2017 after defeating Petra Kvitova 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) in a thrilling quarterfinal at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night.

Venus Williams Quarterfinal US Open Score

The 37-year-old American — a two-time U.S. Open champion — eliminated her 13th-seeded Czech opponent to enter her first semifinal in Flushing, Queens since 2010.

Williams — who reached the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals earlier this year and lost to sister Serena in the former — thanked the crowd at Arthur Ashe for standing by her.

“I have to say I felt every single one of you guys behind me, all 23,000,” Williams said, smiling. “That feels good and I didn’t want to let you guys down. Thanks for the support.”

The ninth-seeded American began her post-match interview, however, by praising 27-year-old Kvitova, whose participation in the U.S. Open marked her first major tennis tournament since she was attacked with a knife in a home invasion in December 2016. The assailant stabbed Kvitova in her left (playing) hand, which required surgery.

“First of all, everything she’s been through, it’s unbelievable,” Williams said of her Czech opponent after her match, which lasted 2 hours and 34 minutes. “You don’t wake up imagining you’ll go through that. I was fortunate to win that match. It came down to the wire. I’m wishing her more titles and more wins.”

Williams has reached eight U.S. Open semifinals since first playing at the event in 1998. Should she win the tournament, she could become No. 2 in the World. The American played fantastically in the third-set tiebreaker, only losing two points, although she double-faulted on her first match point at 6-1. Williams then sealed the victory on her second match point by forcing Kvitova into a backhand return error off a powerful serve.

Williams will next face fellow American Sloane Stephens in the first women’s semi-final on Thursday. This will mark Stephens’ first semifinal appearance at the U.S. Open. She advanced by defeating 16th-seeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 36-, 7-6 (7-4) on Tuesday.

The last time Williams reached three finals in one season was in 2002.

On the men’s side, 17th-seeded American Sam Querrey was eliminated Tuesday after losing to South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-7, 7-6, 3-6, 6-7, while Spanish 12th seed Pablo Carreño Busta has reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman. Busta and Anderson will face off in the first men’s semifinal on Friday.

The other two remaining men’s quarterfinals are Rafael Nadal against Russian teen Andrey Rublev at 1:15 pm EST on Wednesday, and Roger Federer against 24th-seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro at 8:15 pm EST.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 03: Venus Williams of the United States returns a shot during her women’s singles fourth round match against Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain on Day Seven of the 2017 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 3, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova will step away from tennis for at least six months as she recovers from a knife attack that occurred Tuesday, although she should be able to resume her career.

Petra Kvitova Out For At Least Six Months After Injuries From Home Invasion

The 26-year-old Czech underwent surgery to tendons and nerves on her left (playing) hand after an attacker invaded her home in Prostejov on Tuesday.

Kvitova faces a slow rehabilitation process following 14 days of bed rest.

Surgeon Radek Kebrle stated the operation on Kvitova’s left hand went “very well, with no complications,” but it will be several months until the World. No. 11 can even hold a racket.

“It is too soon to specify when precisely she can return to competition, but Petra is ready to do everything she can to get back competing at the highest level,” said a statement from her management.

“Petra is happy with how the operation went and is in good spirits.”

Kvitova also tweeted about her condition after the assault, saying she is “shaken, but fortunate to be alive.”

In an earlier statement on the Facebook page of the Czech Republic’s Fed Cup team, Kvitova wrote: “What happened to me was certainly not pleasant, but it’s behind me. I have the best possible care and I’m in touch with my loved ones. The worst is behind me.”

Prostejov police spokesman Frantisek Korinek said the attacker, a man who is about 35 years old, escaped from the scene and was at large. He added that police have launched a manhunt.

Kvitova was scheduled to participate in a charity event in the city of Brno on Tuesday with another Czech player, Lucie Safarova.

“It’s horrible,” Safarova told Czech public radio. “Things like that are shocking to all of us. It can happen to anyone of us. That’s really terrible.”

 In an unrelated move earlier Tuesday, Kvitova withdrew from the Czech Republic team at next month’s Hopman Cup mixed-team tennis tournament due to an earlier foot injury.

 Kvitova reached a career-high of world number two in October 2011, behind Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki. She also won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics, losing her semi-final to eventual gold medallist Monica Puig.

 BEIJING, CHINA – OCTOBER 07: Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic returns a shot against Madison Keys of the United States during her Women’s Singles Quarter Finals match on day seven of the 2016 China Open at the China National Tennis Centre on October 7, 2016 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Etienne Oliveau/Getty Images)