– Serena Williams said that neither fatigue nor the problem of her injured left knee caused the defeat against Czech Karolina Pliskova on Thursday during the semifinals of the 2016 US Open Tennis tournament.
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The 28-year-old Kerber, the Australian Open victor, waited in the wings as Karolina Pliskova defeated Serena Williams in the first semifinal. I’m really happy to be there and even have the chance to play in the final here. “Then I knew if I have the chance to play someone who is better than me, I know I can be unsafe”.
Kerber, who beat Williams in Melbourne before losing to her in the final at Wimbledon, said: “I was watching the match a little bit before I came here but I was trying to focus on this match, not the match before”. She is the top ace-getter on the WTA and, at 186cm, is the second-tallest player in top 100 after Maria Sharapova. “I will try to give my best, go out to enjoy my first final and try to win the match”.
He said she spent far less time than usual warming up for the match, after getting treatment much of the day.
For a normal player, Williams’ 2016 season would be one of great success.
Williams, however, praised Pliskova, who played a flawless first set and ultimately held her nerve.
Kerber, who took over from Serena Williams as world No. 1 after the American’s loss earlier in the evening at Flushing Meadows, recorded a 6-4, 6-3 win over Denmark’s Wozniacki.
The scrappy fifth seeded Romanian managed to take the first break points from Williams during the Flushing Meadows fortnight and the only set surrendered by the top seed but at the end of the day the result was the same, the 34-year-old American walking off court with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win.
Just moments after becoming the oldest first-time world number one, Kerber raced out of the blocks against the Dane, a two-time runner-up at the tournament.
All of 7 minutes in, Pliskova showed she was not shaken by any of it – the stage, the setting, the stakes or the foe – and broke to lead 2-1.
Williams was under pressure immediately in the second, fending off a break point in the opening game. “She has a big serve”.
In the press conference afterward, Serena said she was carrying an injury. Yet, once again, Kerber produced the kind of stirring tennis that has now taken her to the heights of the women’s game. “The serve was key”. Then came Williams, never one to back down, going ahead 5-4, two points from forcing a third set.
“It was about those last two, three weeks that I have played here in the States and I won good matches”.
“My goal today was to beat Serena”, said Pliskova, not even thinking about Saturday’s championship match. Like Williams, she has a sister who plays tennis.
In the second semi-final, Kerber marked her elevation to the world number one ranking by reaching the final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Caroline Wozniacki.
Serena Williams shockingly crashed out of the U.S. Open on Thursday, and her coach is blaming a health issue for the defeat.
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Kerber will become the second German to top the women’s rankings, following Steffi Graf.
