Newly minted world number one Angelique Kerber is geared up for battle, not thank-you bouquets, when she takes on Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final on Saturday.
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However, one of her few blips in 2016 came recently in Cincinnati when she went down 6-3 6-1 to Pliskova in the final.
She may be in unfamiliar ground in the second week of a Grand Slam, but in Kerber she’ll face a well-known foe.
“I said, ‘You just beat Serena; you are in the final!'” Vanek said. Go away!’ And I said, ‘No, come on!
This pair may have never met in a major decider before, but Kerber and Pliskova do share a very active recent history, having collided in three lesser tournament finals over the course of the past 18 months. Kerber originally had a chance to take the No. 1 ranking from Williams at the Cincinnati Masters prior to the US Open, but she needed to win it. On Thursday, the saboteur was a slender Czech all but unknown to casual observers due to her chronic underperformance in the early rounds of the sport’s four bedrock tournaments.
Pliskova’s coach Jiri Vanek, revealed to New York Times that he had suggested her to do ‘something stupid’ to celebrate her win, but she did not accept.
Murray and Soares, who won the first Grand Slam they played together at the Australian Open in January, knocked off defending champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach the final.
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An eerie hush fell over Arthur Ashe Stadium after Williams double-faulted on match point in the second-set tiebreaker, closing the show at 6-2, 7-6 (5) and ensuring Pliskova’s shock passage into Saturday’s final after 86 minutes.
