Russian will meet Serena Williams in the last four tonight
Ekaterina Makarova describes herself as a person who prefers "to stay in the shade".
At this US Open, she finally believes that she deserves to play under the brightest lights.
The Russian reached her first grand slam semi-final on Wednesday, beating Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-2 to set up an encounter with world No 1 Serena Williams today for a spot in Sunday's final.
Makarova lost her previous four major quarter-finals, but believes a more confident approach served her well on court.
"Before, maybe I didn't believe that much that I can come through," she said. "Today definitely was a different feeling."
Azarenka said she suffered from food poisoning the day before, but didn't want to talk about how it might have affected her.
Unusually subdued for most of the match, she smashed her racket after one of her 27 unforced errors gave Makarova a break and a 4-2 lead in the second set.
"I'm not going to make any excuses," she said. "I did the best I could today. I want to give full credit to my opponent. She deserves to win. She played much better than me today."
Azarenka and Makarova were seeded 16th and 17th, respectively, but came in with very different resumes. Azarenka is a two-time Australian Open champion who lost to Williams in the last two US Open finals.
Yet in some ways, falling short of the semi-finals would have been more distressing for Makarova, who lost to Lucie Safarova in straight sets in the Wimbledon quarters this summer.
"I really believed that at [this] US Open, I can do my best result," Makarova said. "I felt that I'm ready."
Azarenka arrived at Flushing Meadows having played just eight matches since the Australian Open because of foot and knee injuries, causing her ranking to plunge.
She played five matches in New York, a huge help to rediscovering her rhythm.
"I can take positives from this tournament," Azarenka said. "Two months ago, I didn't even think that I was going to be able to play."
She often looked shaky against qualifier Aleksandra Krunic in the fourth round before eking out a three-set victory, and Makarova took full advantage of Azarenka's mistakes.
Makarova was coming off a straight-sets upset of Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard. Against Azarenka, the lefty's deep groundstrokes kept on the pressure.
Down an early break in the first set, Makarova immediately broke back and looked sharp the rest of the way. She has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows.
Makarova also is in the doubles semi-finals after she and Elena Vesnina beat the Williams sisters on Tuesday.
Now that Makarova is in her first major singles semi-final, maybe everyone will learn to pronounce her name. It's Ma-KA-ro-va, not MA-ka-ro-va.
Still, she is perfectly amused that tournaments have started playing The Macarena over the stadium loudspeakers after she clinches a victory.
She does indeed know how to do the dance. Unlike Azarenka, who sang in her on-court interview after her last match, Makarova is in no hurry to show off her moves in public.
Waiting for her now is Williams, who beat 11th-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-2.
The top-ranked American lost her serve twice while falling behind 3-0, but quickly turned things around.
"I don't feel like I was doing too much wrong," Williams said. "So I said, 'If she keeps it up, she absolutely deserves the win.' And I just tried to do a little better."
Williams, who has had a poor 2014 at the grand slams, not getting beyond the fourth round at the first three, claimed making a mockery of her situation had helped her as she bids for a sixth title at Flushing Meadows.
"It's almost a joke for me, because I have done little to no winning in the majors," she said. "I thought, take it as a joke: I better play doubles just in case I don't make it past the second round. At least I have a back-up plan.
"I think that definitely has been able to help me to relax."
Today's other semi-final match-up sees the 10th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark take on China's Peng Shuai. It is the first time that Peng, 28, has reached the last four at a major.
"It's a little bit too exciting," she said. "I love tennis, I love to play, but it's a long time, the career. It's tough.
"Sometimes I've thought to give up and stop playing, because I don't know if I can make it or not."
Wozniacki is yet to win a grand slam, with her lone appearance in a final coming five years ago at this tournament, where she lost in straight sets to Kim Clijsters.
Ekaterina Makarova enjoys centre stage at the US Open
The Russian makes last four at Flushing Meadows to end quarter-final jinx and her reward is a match with world No 1 Serena Williams in the last four.
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