Serena Williams crashed out of the US Open on Thursday, her semi-final defeat to Karolina Pliskova costing her a shot at a 23rd Grand Slam title and a record 187th straight week at number one.
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Pliskova will become the fourth different female grand slam victor this year if she can stun Kerber and the 24-year-old said she is not finished yet after denying Williams a 23rd major title.
The fact that Kerber is set to go to No. 1 next week, also happens to mean that Graf will continue to hold the record for most consecutive weeks as the top-ranked player, at 186, a record she shares with Williams, who was hobbled by a sore knee in her semifinal against Pliskova.
Pliskova may be the underdog but she is also the player in form, having out-gunned Williams to seal her 11th win in a row.
Pliskova, now 24, was just seven years old when Williams won her first grand slam at the US Open in 1999, and admits it was a dream to follow in her footsteps. “I just blame that on just mentally thinking about my leg and just not thinking about the shot”.
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.
“I wasn’t’ exhausted. Fatigue had absolutely nothing to do with it”.
Williams, who clutched her left leg between points in the second set, double-faulted to end it. Williams confirmed in her postmatch interview that she had been dealing with an injured left knee since the second or third round and it curtailed her movement.
“My mind was elsewhere, you are thinking of other things”. The Czech will face Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s final. Now she tries to win her first Open. “I’m really excited about those two wins”.
“I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to move”, said Williams, who refused to go into any more details about the problem. Though the German lost, she was confident that she would get another chance to prove she is the world number one.
“I don’t believe it”, Pliskova said. “I always knew I have a chance to beat anybody if I’m playing my game”. Pliskova’s booming serve shone, particularly in the first set. “Obviously, she’s had a great year”, the Dane said. I am excited to be in the final and to beat Serena as she is such a great champion.
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Pliskova has certainly proved her mettle here, having also knocked out Venus Williams in the fourth round, but previously her success had largely come at tournaments away from the grand slams.
