Angelique Kerber moved closer to becoming the No. 1-ranked women’s tennis player in the world by ousting Barbara Strycova 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open at Mason, Ohio.
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In the quarterfinals, Pliskova was up against two-time Grand Slam champion and seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, and it was a gritty performance needed for Pliskova to defeat the Russian in three sets with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 scoreline.
Pliskova will await a Sunday showdown against the victor from the second semi-final between Olympic silver medallist Angelique Kerber and the Romanian Simona Halep.
One more win Sunday would give him his third title in Cincinnati after his triumphs in 2008 and 2011.
Kerber, who had said all week she was keeping the number one possibility out of her mind, got off to slow starts in both sets.
“I tried my best, but sometimes you have days where it’s not working so good”, Kerber said. “If someday it happens, it happens, but I will not be making too much pressure on this”.
“Angie’s had an fantastic week and has done a great job all year”, Pliskova said on court after the final.
Williams, who withdrew from the tournament on Monday due to a shoulder injury, thus retains her place at the top of the women’s game for a remarkable 184th consecutive week. She followed this up with a title in Stuttgart before going on to contest the finals at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.
It was the biggest win of Pliskova’s career, the 24-year-old Czech’s first title in a premier tournament.
She was well aware of what the match will mean for her opponent. Muguruza was overwhelmed with just seven winners and 23 unforced errors. “She played a great match and a great tournament, so she really deserved to win at the end”. “I think you deserve to be No. 1, but maybe next time”, she said.
The singles final takes place at 7pm United Kingdom time (2pm local time) on Center Court, and will be Karolina Pliskova v Angelique Kerber. Pliskova took a few steps toward the net, stopped, clenched both fists and closed her eyes for a moment, letting it soak in.
The German was broken in the first game at love and lost her next serve in falling behind 4-0.
Kerber and third seed Halep – victor of her last 13 matches – were delayed an hour by rain and then interrupted for 30 minutes. The semifinals haven’t been pushed back by rain at the tournament since 2001. “I played the 11th match in 13 or 14 days”. “I have played a lot of the matches in a short space of time, and also there’s been a change of surface as well”. It was a very, very positive week. “I’m just trying to play my best tennis”.
The men’s bracket was wide open with the top players missing.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are hurt, and Rafael Nadal is still getting back into playing shape after a wrist injury cost him two months.
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Cilic’s win ended a streak of 18 straight Masters titles by one of the Big Four. The 2012 Cincinnati Open runner-up saved two out of five break point tries coming from Simona Halep during the thirty-eight minute set.
