Twelve months ago it was the same Vinci who engineered one of the biggest surprises in tennis history by defeating Williams in the semifinals to end the American’s bid to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to achieve a calendar-year grand slam.
Advertisement
The other men’s quarter on Tuesday is an all-French affair with 10th-seeded veteran Gael Monfils taking on 22-year-old Lucas Pouille, who shocked 14-times grand slam singles victor Rafa Nadal in five sets in the fourth round.
“I’m still trying to stay focused on match to match”, Kerber said.
Angelique Kerber insists she is taking the U.S. Open on a match-by-match basis as she closes in on Serena Williams’ No. 1 world ranking.
Kerber, who almost ended Serena Williams’ long run as world No 1 last month in Cincinnati, tries to stay on track for a possible winner-take-all match with the American in the finals when she goes against Roberta Vinci.
Kerber committed just three unforced errors the rest of the way to register a convincing 7-5, 6-0 win at Arthur Ashe Stadium to advance to the Open semifinals for the first time in five years.
The Italian never recovered and Kerber blasted through the second set in 24 minutes to clinch her semi-final spot.
Three times Vinci would break Kerber in the opening set and three times she would allow the German to immediately break back, including once while serving at 5-4 for the set.
With the title at the 2016 U.S. Open, Kerber would control the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career. I could have played fantastic but still lost.
Kerber, who last reached the last four at Flushing Meadows in 2011, will now meet Caroline Wozniacki or Anastasija Sevastova for a place in the final. “Think about the good things you did in the first set”, Kerber said of her approach midway through the match.
With her opponent hobbled, Wozniacki showed no mercy and moved in for the kill, keeping Sevastova running from sideline to sideline.
“It’s one of my best years now, so that’s why my belief in myself is growing for sure”, Kerber said.
“Hopefully I have two more matches here”. Monfils, yet to drop a set, got to his second grand slam semifinal after the 2008 French Open.
Advertisement
Tenth seed Monfils was his energetic, athletic self and invincible from the service line in a commanding win over 22-year-old Pouille, who was coming off three successive five-set wins including a fourth-round upset of 14-times slam victor Rafa Nadal.
