Whereas the American was defeated by crafty veteran Roberta Vinci 12 months ago to end hopes of a rare calendar-year slam, an ailing Williams lost to big-hitting Karolina Pliskova 6-2 7-6 (7-5) on Thursday in NY.
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A 6-4 6-3 semi-final victory for Kerber ensured the German will be able to call herself the best female tennis player on the planet when the new rankings are released on Monday.
The 10th-seeded Czech moved into her first grand slam final, where she will meet Kerber, who later accounted for Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3.
She’ll thus have to wait to become the first player in the Open Era to win 23 majors – Williams is now tied with Steffi Graf on 22. “I don’t remember her moving so slow ever”.
“It’s just incredible. It’s a great day”, Kerber said in the on-court interview after her semifinal victory. “I know how well she is playing”. The 10th seeded Czech broke Williams in the fifth game, only for the top seed to immediately break back with a phenomenal game that kept Pliskova unable to score once off her own serve. “I was trying to not think too much the whole last few weeks about this, and now I reach it”.
Kerber who had never made it into the final of a Grand Slam event, has now reached her third major final and could end the tournament as a two-time champion with her first major cup win coming at the Australian Open earlier this year.
However, Williams, who has no points to defend from, previous year in comparison to the German can really use this opportunity to get back as well.
A year ago Williams went into the semi-finals 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 longshot, prevailed.
Kerber says she was suffering from Olympics fatigue on that occasion and is confident she can put things right. “I think she’s proud of me to be the next No. 1 after her”.
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Williams said: “If I can’t turn around after 24 hours and play again then I shouldn’t be on tour”. But that was always going to be hard in a year in which she has played only seven tournaments. “I was prepared for anything, even if I would have lose the second set I would be ready for the third”. But it will be a bittersweet accomplishment if Kerber doesn’t take care of business at Arthur Ashe Stadium and win the Open, which would be her second Grand Slam singles title. “But both matches were very good”. I just tried to focus on this match.
