In the women’s singles, Caroline Wozniacki’s dramatic resurgence continued when the former world No. 1 defeated a hobbling Anastasija Sevastova to reach a fourth semi-final.
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Karolina Pliskova, the tall and athletic 24 year-old Czech, saw off the challenge of 18 year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh to make her first Grand Slam semi-final, in which she will tackle Williams or Halep.
Wozniacki’s last trip to the semifinals of a major came in 2014, when she lost the U.S. Open final to her good friend Serena Williams.
“I think when you’re a little kid and you don’t know what anything really means, everybody knows what it means to be the best in the world and everybody knows what it means to be No. 1”, said Wozniacki after her quarterfinal win over Anastasija Sevastova.
“I’m enjoying it much more now than I was then”.
Wozniacki, the finalist in 2009 and 2014 and semi-finalist also in 2010 and 2011, sympathized with Sevastova after she spent nearly three months out of the sport with a right ankle injury earlier this year.
She started the year with the Auckland semi-final and it has been a long wait to reach only her second of the year, after an ankle injury ruled her out of the tour for the entire clay court season, and her progress on the hard courts was stilted with no back to back wins in the USA, and a second round exit in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
“I think she made no mistakes”, Sevastova said. She looks nothing like the player who bombed out early at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. “But for now, I’m just here to play this tournament”, she added.
A merciless Djokovic then served out the set at love, firing a 190kph ace – his first of the contest – on set point.
Kerber has yet to drop a set but has probably felt she has weathered a few storms, being pushed in sets throughout.
Kerber holds a 7-5 career record over Wozniacki.
The two are joined by friendship, Polish roots and cosy chats over coffee, but on Thursday they’ll be ruthless in pursuit of a place in the US Open final.
Her past accomplishments and ties to the city ensure Wozniacki is never left wanting for support. Both players play defensive tennis and will run down every ball possible, looking to outsmart the other, hence expect long rallies.
“It’s always tough to play Roberta”.
“When I was a kid, of course I was dreaming to winning Slams and being one day No. 1, and now it can happen”, Kerber said.
Piotr told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that her career may not extend beyond this year, or that she might call it quits at the end of next season.
Wozniacki began by blitzing to wins in the first 10 games of a match that passed the 50-minute mark before Sevastova, who was fighting an ankle injury that required two visits from the trainer, won a solitary game.
Against Wozniacki, she never really had a chance to play her best.
Kerber navigated a patchy first set, in which she came from a break down on three occasions, to claim what became a comfortable victory over Vinci. Kerber leads the series, 7-5. “She is strong again, she had great wins here”.
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“I kept serving well and made her run, ” Wozniacki said.
