Victoria Azarenka came from a set down to stun record-chasing Serena Williams on Thursday and set up a US Open final against Japan's Naomi Osaka. Azarenka recovered from a 1-6 hammering in the first set to win the next two 6-3, 6-3 and schedule her first Grand Slam final appearance in seven years. The former World No. 1 is enjoying a remarkable renaissance in New York that the Belarusian credits to finding humility, following several years disrupted by injury and a custody battle over her son.

'Being invincible'

"I think when you're coming up from kind of nothing, then you become a No. 1 player in the world, sometimes you can start to think you're invincible and that you're better than everybody, and it's not true," Azarenka said. "So the ego starts to grow. It's very hurtful when it gets damaged. Instead of getting the ego damaged, I tried to remove that and learn from my mistakes," she added.