A year ago Serena went into the semifinals on the cusp of a rare calendar-year Grand Slam but was the victim of one of the biggest upsets in tennis history when Roberta Vinci, a 300-to-1 long-shot, prevailed.
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Angelique Kerber, of Germany, returns a shot to Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in NY.
This time it was the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova who halted the 34-year-old American, winning 6-2 7-5 to set up a final today with Angelique Kerber, who beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final.
“(Here) I can really prepare for the final against Pliskova.
Pliskova and Kerber will face off for the women’s singles title on Saturday.
Kerber plays Czech Karolina Pliskova in the championship match at Flushing Meadows, knowing she will take Serena Williams’ place at the top of the rankings regardless of the outcome. She’s already assured of that.
“I will go out there trying to get my next chance against her and take the revenge”, she said. “I think if she had played any less then maybe I would have had a chance”, said Williams.
All in all, it’s been quite a special 2016 for Kerber.
Kerber, who beat Williams in the Australian Open final for her first Slam and fell to the same player in the Wimbledon title match, has one unfinished piece of business – getting even with Pliskova, who beat her in last month’s Cincinnati final.
Asked about the prospect of facing Kerber, she said: “We played a lot of times”.
The keys will be a sharp serve and an aggressive attack, unlike in Cincinnati where she was “just pushing the balls”.
The good news for Kerber, though, is she’s in the top 10 in percentage of return points and games won. “To be now the No.1 in the world, that was always a dream for me”, she informed. You can not win, 6-2, 6-1, so I wasn’t expecting a match like this. It’s a huge thing. She’s going to enjoy it. “Was my first match on center court”.
That comes against Pliskova, who never had been past the third round in 17 previous major appearances but became only the fourth woman to beat both Williams sisters during one Grand Slam tournament. “I wasn’t exhausted from yesterday’s (Wednesday) match”, said Serena.
Her rise into the final also included wins over seeded players Venus Williams and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The match offers an intriguing contrast in styles. “‘BEATING VENUS TOUGHER” Pliskova claimed it was harder to beat Venus Williams than it was to stun Serena.
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Williams, who practices every day, and noted that she had no problem with daily tournament play, adamently stated that the two matches within two days had nothing to do with her loss. Kerber acknowledged that aspect of her game will be key on Saturday.
