US Open 2012 Tennis: Sharapova and Williams in Women's Semifinals, Where to Watch Live

And then there were four.

The 2012 US Open men's and women's singles events have boiled down to the final four contestants in each section, with most of the big-names having made it through the grueling 11 days of action so far.

The biggest absentees from the final four, and there are some notable ones, are top seed and world number one Roger Federer and world number three Rafael Nadal, from the men's section. The women's draw has seen second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland drop out, in the fourth round, to 20th seed Roberta Vinci of Italy and the defending champion, seventh seed Samantha Stosur of Australia, eliminated at the quarter finals by world number one Victoria Azarenka.

Those that remain, however, are just two matches away from claiming the final Grand Slam of the year.

Day 11 Review: The day's action at Flushing Meadows was all about two high-profile men's singles quarter final games.

The first, in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, was a tough five-set battle between fourth seed David Ferrer of Spain and eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia. The Serbian finally prevailed, winning 6-3, 6(5)-7, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in four hours and 31 minutes.

The second was another absorbing contest that although turned out to be a straight set win for number two seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic, was one that forced the Serbian to dig deep and produce a top performance. The former world number one saw of seventh seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 6-2, 7-6(3), 6-4.

There was also a final played on the day, with the fourth seeded Czech/Polish pair of Kveta Peschke and Marcin Matkowski falling to unseeded Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and Bruno Soares of Brazil, 6(8)-7(10), 6-1, 1(12)-0(10) after 89 minutes.

Meanwhile, the line-ups for the men's and women's doubles were also decided. The second seeded American pair of brothers Bob and Mike Bryan will face the fifth seeded veteran Indian/Czech combination of Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek in the men's final. The women's final will be contested between the second seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy and the third seeded Czech pair of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.

Day 12 Preview: The 12th day at Flushing Meadows will start with the men's doubles final.

Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek, of India and the Czech Republic, respectively, will attempt to deny New York the pleasure of watching the California-born duo lift their fourth US Open title (their 12th men's doubles Grand Slam title). Paes and Stepanek have history on their side; the two teamed up to beat the Bryan brothers to the 2012 Australian Open title. The match is scheduled to start at 5 pm BST and will be in the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The men's doubles final will be followed by the two semi finals for the women's singles event. Top seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus will play third seed Maria Sharapova of Russia in the first match, which will start at 6.45 pm BST at the earliest. Fourth seed Serena Williams of the USA, who has been in imperious form since winning gold at the London Olympics 2012, will then face 10th seed Sara Errani of Italy.

The rest of the matches for the day will consist of quarter finals and semi finals for the junior boys and girls' events. For a full schedule, click here.

Where to Watch Live:

You can follow all the action live, from 5 pm on Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports HD 2. You can also catch all the scores and updates, in real time, from the tournament's official Web site.