Serena Williams was upset in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Thursday night by Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
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And while there was no title to win on this day, Williams stepped onto the court with something to lose. So will a 23rd Grand Slam championship, another record.
“Karolina played great today. She deserved to win today”. “I don’t remember her moving so slow ever”.
“I knew I had the chance to beat anyone if I played my game”.
Her aggression from the baseline was too much for Wozniacki, a former world number one but now down to 74 in the rankings.
However, Pliskova hung in and, after frittering away her first four break points of the match, she converted her fifth with a lob-volley victor that curled over Kerber and fell right by the baseline to lead 4-3 as she forced a final set.
“I mean, there is not more than to beat both sisters in one tournament in NY”, smiled Pliskova.
“Sure she has a lot of confidence, ” Kerber said of Pliskova said.
The Czech star has never gone past the third round of a major tournament before and insists Williams’ injury should not take the gloss off her achievement.
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’s triumph over Serena Williams in a semi-final shocker propelled Kerber to the number one ranking.
“When you’re hampered you’re thinking of other things”, said the American, a six-time US Open champion.
“I definitely wasn’t exhausted”, she said. “So many simple, simple shots that I easily could have made”, Williams said. My mind was everywhere.
Angelique Kerber after beating Caroline Wozniacki to reach the US Open tennis women’s singles final in New York September 8, 2016.
For the second straight year, Williams misses out on an opportunity to make history as she was going for a seventh title at the U.S. Open, which would have been an Open-era record, The Associated Press noted.
“I know it will be very tough mentally for me also because she knows that she won against me a few weeks ago”.
It was a brief respite as she then broke for the fifth time in the match to march into a third Grand Slam final of the year. She could end it as a two-time major champ. Though the German lost, she was confident that she would get another chance to prove she is the world number one.
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Kerber was ruthless in her pursuit, breaking again for a 4-1 lead before she cracked when serving for the match, getting broken to love. “I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and I’m just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court”. She won her first senior title in Kuala Lumpur in 2013 and has since added five more, including Nottingham and Cincinnati this summer. “I think I had a pretty positive attitude mostly, outside of maybe my second round”.
