Karolina Pliskova shattered Serena Williams’s bid for a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title Thursday, her 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) win setting-up a US Open final against new world number one Angelique Kerber. Pliskova will face German Angelique Kerber who beat Serena in the Wimbledon final and who will replace the American top with latest rankings released on Monday.
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Pliskova, who had never before reached the second week of a slam, had a harder time, completing a Williams “double” by beating older sister Venus in a third-set tiebreaker in the fourth round. But momentum isn’t something to overlook, and that’s where Pliskova holds the advantage after an impressive two weeks in NY.
“To be honest, I don’t remember that”, Williams said of the early miscues.
“I wasn’t able to move the way I wanted to move”.
“When you’re hampered, you’re thinking of other things”.
“My mind was just a little bit everywhere, but it was what it was”, Williams said. “But it was what it was”.
Williams’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, placed the blame for the defeat squarely on a knee injury Williams suffered during her quarterfinal battle with Simona Halep. She believes her time has finally come. “So I definitely wasn’t exhausted from yesterday’s match at all”. “I knew I could beat anyone if I’m playing my game”.
If you handicap this match based off what both players have done in the their careers, especially this year, Kerber should win in a landslide. As Kerber gets ready to wear the No 1 crown, she would love to celebrate the occasion with the US Open title.
“If I’m not used to playing this much then I really should think of something different”. “I made a lot of errors”.
Williams will hand over the number one ranking to Kerber at the end of the tournament and subsequently fails to break another record of Graf’s.
At 186 consecutive weeks, the American’s most recent stay at No.1 ties the Open Era record for most consecutive weeks at No.1 held by Graf. “I don’t talk about that whatsoever”, she said. “Was my first match on center court”.
“I don’t think much went well today”, Williams told reporters (h/t Nick McCarvel of USA Today).
“I know it will be very tough mentally for me also because she knows that she won against me a few weeks ago”.
And to think: Pliskova, 24, had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.
“In Cincinnati, I knew Angie. kind of felt some pressure there”, said Pliskova. “Sometimes it is like this”.
“Obviously, the match with Venus helped me. not only with the game, but also with the crowd”, Pliskova said. The 28-year-old German has made the final in three of the four Grand Slams, including this Saturday’s U.S. Open women’s championship match against Karolina Pliskova.
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“For me, it’s just unbelievable to be after Steffi the next No 1 player in Germany”, added Kerber, who at 28 will become the oldest player to become No 1. “So, I mean, it’s a big result for me”.
