Kristina Mladenovic, of France, right, hugs doubles partner Caroline Garcia, of France, after winning their semifinal match against Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, and Coco Vandeweghe, of the United States, at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in NY.
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Lightning struck for the second year in a row here last night as Serena Williams was again beaten by an underdog in the semi-finals of the US Open just when she was on the brink of history.
“Yeah, it feels just great”, Kerber said after the match.
There was no calendar-year Grand Slam up for grabs this year but history continued to beckon Williams, who would have stood alone as greatest Grand Slam champion in the professional era if she had claimed a 23rd title and moved past Steffi Graf.
“Serena, she’s a champion so it’s never easy to play her”. She is also the oldest player to make her debut at No.1, a record previously held by Jennifer Capriati, who was 25 years, 200 days when she reached No.1 in October 2001.
“When I was really young I was always dreaming of being world No 1”, Kerber said.
The 10th-seeded Pliskova, who will play No. 2 Angelique Kerber of Germany for the title on Saturday, began her on-court interview by blurting out that she couldn’t believe she’d eliminated Williams to earn a spot in her first major final.
Kerber would have overtaken Williams for the top spot had she defeated Pliskova in the Cincinnati final August 21.
This was the 33rd major semifinal of Williams’ career, and the first for Pliskova, who beat the 34-year-old American’s older sister Venus in the fourth round after staving off a match point.
In January, she not only advanced to the Australian Open title match but beat Serena Williams there.
Kerber, the new number one player on the tour, defeated Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3. Her 2016 had not included a Major win, but she has reached all three finals, finishing as the runnerup at the Australian Open and French Open before holding high the plate at Wimbledon.
Still, Pliskova surely had a lot to do with Williams’ woes.
She struck 26 unforced errors to Kerber’s 16 against 21 winners to Kerber’s 19. He says: “With the adrenaline of the match, we never know”.
Williams led 4-3 and 5-4 in the decider but couldn’t hang on, Pliskova taking it when Williams delivered her sixth double-fault of the match.
“At the end she tried to go for the victor on every shot”, Mouratoglou added. Pliskova’s power is of the sort that Williams so rarely is forced to confront – much like the difficulties the American’s own game presents others. “So many simple, simple shots that I easily could have made”, Williams said. And Williams remains even with Chris Evert with six U.S. Open trophies. Having taken the first set with something to spare, she regrouped in the second set after dropping her serve to love immediately after breaking in the fifth game.
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Patrick Mouratoglou said after the straight-set semifinal upset by Karolina Pliskova on Thursday: “It’s impossible to compete without moving”.
