“I’m not thinking about quarters, semis, or whatever”.
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“She definitely gets some speed on it but her placement is really, really nice”.
It wasn’t a ideal start for Kerber, who trailed three times in the first set before finding a rhythm down the stretch and seizing complete control in the second. Since finishing runner-up to Kerber in Stuttgart past year, the Dane has yet to make a final and has been to the quarterfinals or better at just five tournaments (including this tournament).
The four players’ Polish bond is evident in holiday photos and they remain as close as they can be in the cut-throat environment of professional tennis.
Kerber leads the WTA for most main draw match wins this season, at 52-14, and her other highlights include reaching two finals at the Brisbane International and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, and the semi-finals at the Miami Open, Volvo Car Open in Charleston and Rogers Cup in Montreal.
“I always believe in myself, no matter what my ranking”, said Wozniacki.
Serena Williams will be wary of another semi-final slip-up when she takes to the Arthur Ashe Stadium court on Thursday to face 10th seed Karolina Pliskova for a spot in the U.S. Open final. Since then, she’s faced her fair share of highs and lows on the court, but her recent string of success-highlighted with a victory over Serena Williams in the Austrlian Open-has Kerber thinking big.
That No. 1 ranking isn’t an issue for Wozniacki after an injury-wracked season in which she has fallen to No. 74.
“I really wish Jo a quick recovery”, Djokovic said. “Yeah, it’s changed a lot in the last few months”.
The 26-year-old’s two previous final appearances at Flushing Meadows have ended in defeat, as she was beaten by Kim Clijsters in 2009 and Serena Williams five years later, but she remains confident that she can go one better at this year’s event. She’s evolved her game since then-several times-and doesn’t find herself blinking quite as much when she steps into the Grand Slam spotlight.
“I think it is always hard to play against Roberta”. The Japanese, a finalist in 2014, broke in the eleventh game then served out the match to seal just his second win against the Scot.
“Now obviously I want to win every match, but it’s different”.
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– Kerber becomes only the second German woman to achieve the world’s top ranking since computer rankings were introduced in 1975, and the first since Steffi Graf spent the last of her record 377 weeks at No.1 in March 1997. “She’s obviously very passionate”, said Wozniacki.
