Angelique Kerber will take on Karolina Pliskova in the final of US Open 2016 Women’s singles at the Flushing Meadows on 10 September.
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Had Williams won the Open, she would have surpassed Steffi Graf’s record of 186 consecutive weeks at No. 1.
A year ago, Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended when she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals to unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy.
She’s just the fifth player to reach her first three grand slam finals in one year.
Karolina Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, right, greets Serena Williams after winning their semifinal match of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in NY. “But after the match I would say it’s still her choice if she wants to play or if she is ready to play or not”.
“I will go out there trying to get my next chance against her and take the revenge”, she said. So I think I wasn’t at 100%, but I also think she played well. She had already lost in the Australian and French Open finals, although she did win Wimbledon.
Tennis fans weren’t the only ones shocked by the upset.
“But I knew it’s somewhere in me that I can really play good tennis on those bigger stages so I believed, and it just happened”.
Having ousted Venus Williams in the fourth round – surviving a match point – world No. 11 Pliskova became the first player in six years to beat the Williams sisters at the same edition of a tournament.
But she certainly appeared to have her mind elsewhere throughout the match.
Until now, the big-serving Czech, who had climbed to No 7 in the rankings last August, has been a grand slam mystery of sorts, never progressing beyond the third round in 17 main draw appearances despite boasting one of the most fearsome serves on the WTA Tour.
“After that (loss at Cincinnati Masters), I was just telling myself, ‘OK, I will get one more chance”.
She is replaced by Angelique Kerber at the top spot, after the German beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 to set up the decider with the 24-year-old. “To be now the No.1 in the world, that was always a dream for me”, she added.
Although Williams injured her left knee earlier in the U.S. Open, she didn’t use it as an excuse for the loss.
Williams, who played a tough three-set match the previous night against Simona Halep, refused to blame fatigue.
Now, she is in Saturday’s final. “I fought all I could and just came up a bit short”.
Then German then went out and looked like a top-ranked player, winning the first four games en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Pliskova, a rising star on the court, has something in common with Williams.
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Despite the injury, Williams admitted Pliskova earned her victory.
