“I had nothing to lose and I just came here looking to play good tennis”.
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Kerber beat Williams in Melbourne before losing to her in the final at Wimbledon, but it is a new face in Pliskova she will be facing this weekend after the Czech’s stunning victory in NY. The American task of defending her top in the rankings gets tougher as she now has to win the title in order to remain atop there.
But for Wozniacki, ranking like age, is just a number.
At the start of 2016, Kerber had never made a Grand Slam final. “Angie’s had a great year and I’m happy for her”.
The 26-year-old Wozniacki, a former number one, consulted a page of scribbled notes in the changeover and the handy hints proved just that as she retrieved a break to go 2-4.
Wozniacki also endured what has been arguably the most turbulent stretch of her career as she picked up an ankle injury after Miami, forcing her out competition for most of the clay season and has since fallen out of the top 20, now sitting 74th, her lowest ranking in nearly 10 years.
“We have not taken any final decision, but as I understand her, it will not be a long career”, Piotr Wozniacki was quoted as saying.
In January, she not only advanced to the Australian Open title match but beat Serena Williams there.
After having reached the semi-final, Wozniacki will comeback into the top-40.
A monumental, amazing, live-changing 2016 season it has been for world number two Kerber.
Wozniacki’s carefree hitting at the US Open has been interpreted as a sign that for someone with 23 career titles and US$20 million ($27m) in the bank, there are few challenges left – apart from that elusive first Major. It wasn’t even a wily veteran like Roberta Vinci, who derailed Williams’ run a.
He ranking coming into NY was 74. These results are seconded by last four appearances in Miami, Charleston, and Montreal.
Kerber leads their head-to-head 7-5, but Wozniacki holds the upper-hand 5-4 on hard courts. Kerber however, was victorious in their other three clashes on clay and grass.
The world number 74 benefited from an ankle injury to her opponent in the second game, and she raced away to win the first set without conceding a game in 31 minutes.
Wozniacki, once the world’s top-ranked player, was not forecasted as a darkhorse coming in. “She has a big serve”. On the contrary, Kerber been the past quarterfinal stage just once, the aforementioned run to the semifinal five years ago. “I don’t want to really talk about that now”, she said.
“I know Jo for a long time, we grew up playing in the junior circuit as well”.
Wozniacki was in two semi-finals (2010, 2011) and two finals (2009, 2014). Photo credit: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images.
Kerber had downplayed talk about becoming number one but admitted it felt “just great”. Despite her Danish heritage, she owns two apartments in Manhattan.
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If the German prevails tomorrow morning and goes on to dethrone Williams as world No. 1, Wozniacki will be one of the first to congratulate her coffee-club friend.
