Angelique Kerber moved into her third Grand Slam final of the year with a comfortable semifinal win over Caroline Wozniacki at the U.S. Open on Thursday.
Advertisement
Kerber admitted that she had been distracted by the match before, knowing that a win for Pliskova would see her replace Williams as No 1 when Monday’s new world rankings list is issued.
The 28-year-old left-hander, who won the Australian Open in January and was Wimbledon runner-up in July, is the first German woman to reach the final in NY since Steffi Graf in 1996.
Instead, Kerber forced her opponent into a volley error on that point and two points later won the match when a backhand that looked like it might sail over the baseline instead landed on the line and elicited a mistake from Wozniacki.
To Wozniacki’s credit, she earned another break of her own and fought back to within 5-3, but Kerber finished the match with her serve and advanced to the final.
Still, Kerber had a job to do as she faced off against Caroline Wozniacki in the second semfinal of the evening.
Kerber will now take on Williams’ conqueror, Karolina Pliskova, in Saturday’s showpiece match as she closes in on a second grand slam title.
“Now after I can relax a little bit and try to enjoy this special night today”, she added.
“To be number one in the world sounds fantastic.” said second seed Kerber.
“It’s incredible to be in the final and to be the world number one, it’s a great day”, said Kerber, who will return to Hong Kong in October to participate in the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open. ´I know it will be tough one because I know Pliskova has been playing very good in the last few weeks.
“Obviously, the match with Venus helped me … not only with the game, but also with the crowd”, Pliskova said.
“Karolina played great today”, Williams said.
“I came into this tournament ranked 74 in the world and probably people ruled me out, but it’s nice to prove people wrong once again”.
Still, this may have changed her mind, since Wozniacki is playing as a very high level.
“For sure she has a lot of confidence”, Kerber said. “I think it’s the best it’s felt in a while”. It’s nice to have a good run.
Her rise began in January with a maiden major triumph at the Australian Open, where she had to defend match point against Japan’s Misaki Doi in the first round, and could now end with another success in Flushing Meadows. “Unfortunately I came up a little short, but I have got to be proud of the way I kept going, and I just kept fighting for every point”.
Advertisement
Injuries and inconsistency have derailed her progress since but reaching a first grand slam semi-final since 2014 could prompt a return to form next year.
