Jamie Murray, of the United Kingdom, left, and Bruno Soares, of Brazil, pose for a photo with the championship trophy after beating Pablo Carreno Busta, of Spain, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, of Spain, to win the men’s doubles.
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Meanwhile, Williams, stuck on 22 majors, finished the Grand Slam year with just one major – Wimbledon – despite making the finals in the first two.
Afterward, Williams dismissed the notion she was tired from a grueling three-set quarterfinal against Simona Halep that concluded less than 22 hours before the semifinal started (Pliskova, whose quarterfinal was earlier Wednesday, watched, then slept in until 1 p.m. on Thursday).
After a punishing three-set quarter-final against Simona Halep on the same court 24 hours early, Williams appeared sluggish against Pliskova. Of course, there will probably nerves from both sides. She dropped on her back after the last point, then climbed into the stands to begin the celebration with her coach and others.
Pliskova will take on Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final.
Pliskova, at 24, is showing the promise of her teen years, when she won the Australian juniors.
The No. 2-seeded Kerber came back to win five of the last six games after trailing by a break at 3-1 in the third set.
Serena Williams lost her No. 1 ranking at the U.S. Open Thursday.
The semi-final stage of the US Open was the departure point for Serena Williams previous year, a surprisingly early exit in her hunt for the Grand Slam. I am excited to be in the final and to beat Serena as she is such a great champion.
The 10th-seeded Pliskova will meet second-seeded Angelique Kerber, who rolled past unseeded Caroline Wozniacki by a 6-4, 6-3 score in the second women’s semifinal.
Pliskova will meet Kerber in Saturday’s final at Flushing Meadows after the German overcame Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final.
There were plenty of lengthy exchanges in that first set, and Kerber tended to get the better of them, winning 9 of 14 points that lasted at least 10 strokes. This will give her total certainty and belief in what she is doing on the court.
Kerber is seeded No. 2, but already is assured of overtaking Serena Williams at No. 1 in the rankings on Monday, regardless of the outcome of the final.
For Pliskova, it is her first Grand Slam final; which comes after her first Slam semifinal, where she ousted Williams; after her first Slam quarterfinal and her first Slam round of 16, where she beat Venus Williams. “I think she’s proud of me to be the next one after her”. Final or first round, she didn’t win the tournament. “I thought she served well and that was definitely a big thing for her”.
Kerber is the first woman from Germany to win the U.S. Open and the first to get to No. 1 since her idol and mentor, Steffi Graf, who got in touch via text message before the final. Imagine the situation: Pliskova hits a low forehand that seems certain to be a victor, but Kerber gets there and digs out a return which turns the tide of the point.
In the fourth round Pliskova beat Williams’ sister, Venus, after saving a match point.
The German, who has most often had to fight Serena Williams this year, has more than held her own against almost every opponent she has seen so far.
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“I will try to take the revenge against her”, said Kerber, who holds a 4-3 career edge over the big-serving Czech player. In Cincinnati, Kerber was playing to take the No.1 ranking away from Serena and she was coming off an emotionally and physically exhausting silver medal effort at the Olympic tennis event. Murray and Soares only teamed up late past year. “I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and I’m just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court”. “I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to move”.
