Sam Querrey, the last American man at the U.S. Open, is out, but Venus Williams moves on

Reporting from New York — 

This could have been a defining moment for 22-year-old Sam Querrey, a chance for him to advance to his first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal with a real opportunity to move to the semifinals of the U.S. Open.

But as quickly as Stanislas Wawrinka chipped a service return and snapped off a sneaky volley, a weary Querrey ended up the dejected loser, 7-6 (9), 6-7 (5), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, in a men’s fourth-round match. The exit of the 20th-seeded Querrey means there are no American men left in the draw.

There will be one U.S. woman in the semifinals, though.

Third-seeded Venus Williams beat sixth-seeded Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (5), 6-4, in 1 hour 54 minutes. This day match ended at 8:04 p.m. in New York thanks to the preceding men’s match, which lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours.

The 30-year-old Williams, who hadn’t played since Wimbledon because of a right knee injury, is aiming for her third Open title and her first since 2001. She is also causing everyone to wonder if she has seven different outfits because so far Williams is four for four in changing fashions. Tuesday her outfit was pink, which seemed to carry her well from day into night, even in the wind.

Williams played in her 33rd major tournament quarterfinal and gave credit to Schiavone. “She played a great match,” Williams said. “It’s not easy in these conditions. It was hard for both of us to know what decision to make.”

Schiavone, 29, who had won her first major title this year at the French Open, gave Williams some trouble in the first set with her clever changes of pace, but Williams’ power, with serves regularly hitting around 120 miles per hour, took its toll in the second set.

Williams will play second-seeded defending champion Kim Clijsters, who defeated fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, Tuesday night.

In the first 41 years of the U.S. Open at least one U.S. man had made the quarters but this is the second year in a row that the Americans have all gone home.

Wawrinka, seeded 25th, had appeared done after Querrey finished off the fourth set with an emphatic ace and a major fist pump. Wawrinka’s right thigh was wrapped with enough tape to cover a mummy; he had called for the trainer and then, when the fifth set was 3-3, asked for an unusually timed bathroom break.

But in the 10th game, with Querrey serving to stay in the match, Wawrinka suddenly released some hidden energy. He cleverly attacked any Querrey second serve by chipping in the return and rushing the net.

Windy conditions affected both players; they combined for 124 unforced errors (67 by Querrey).

Wawrinka also said the key game of the match might have been the third game of the fifth set when he saved three break points. “It was really important for me to keep my serve then because he was still serving good.”

Up next for Wawrinka will be 12th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in a Thursday quarterfinal. Youzhny beat Tommy Robredo, one of the six Spanish men still in the draw at the start of the day, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

WEDNESDAY’S FEATURED MATCHES: At 10 a.m. in Arthur Ashe Stadium, seventh-seeded Wimbledon finalist Vera Zvonareva of Russia against 31st-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia; third-seeded former U.S. Open finalist Novak Djokovic of Serbia against 17th-seeded Gael Monfils of France. Beginning at 4 p.m., top-seeded 2009 finalist Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark against unseeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia followed by five-time champion and second-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland against fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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