She’s also the fifth player to reach her first three Grand Slam finals in one year.
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Speaking at a press conference after the game, Williams congratulated Pliskova for her brilliant performance, but also said a left knee injury had affected her game.
Kerber would have overtaken Williams to the top spot last month if she had defeated Pliskova in the final of Cincinnati Open on 21 August. It’s a great day.
It is only the fourth time she has ever competed at the US Open and the second time that she had made it past the first round of the tournament.
If you need any proof that the Czech has momentum on her side, simply look back at her first set against Serena Williams on Thursday. “If I can’t turn around after 24 hours and play again then I shouldn’t be on tour.
Serena, she’s a champion, so it’s never easy to play her”.
“I knew I was to play centre court against one of the Williams sisters and against all the people there, so I was prepared for it”.
“After that I was just telling myself, ‘OK, I will get one more chance, ‘” Kerber said. The 10th seed took down Serena Williams, who has held the ranking since February 2013, in the semifinals at the US Open. “Being a professional, if I am not able to recover, I am not going to make excuses”. “Then I knew if I have the chance to play someone who is better than me, I know I can be unsafe”.
“I made a lot of errors and I didn’t play as well as I have been playing”, Williams said, “She (Pliskova) was a good, all-around player”. “When you’re injured, you’re thinking of other things when you should just be playing and thinking of your shots”.
The world number 11 had never gone past the third round of a major tournament before but she simply outplayed Williams at her own game, with power, aggression and a blistering serve. “I think she’s proud of me to be the next one after her”. I wasn’t exhausted. Fatigue had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Kerber will meet Serena’ conqueror, Pliskova in the final on Saturday.
The German lefty will face Karolina Pliskova on Saturday in a rematch of the final at Cincinnati almost three weeks earlier.
“It was always a dream to get a title, get to the semi-final, get to the final”.
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She said her recent performances had given her all the belief she needed at Flushing Meadows.
