The gag is clear: In a world fascinated by the National Football League and other major televised pro and college sports entities, trying to coax the viewing public into watching tennis, played by comparative unknown foreigners, can be a tough sell. I would say she maybe felt a little bit, at least in the beginning of the match, better.
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“No, I think that was once and that was OK”, she said when asked about taking another victory plunge.
And, of course, Pliskova’s opponent in the final is not at all Cinderella-esque Flavia Pennetta tale either.
World No2 seed Germany’s Angelique Kerber on Saturday beat Czech player Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the US Open women’s final match here.
Angelique Kerber earned the No. 1 ranking before she stepped on court, then she went out there and looked like a top-ranked player.
Williams, who also lost in the semi-finals previous year which ended her bid to claim a rare calendar Slam, said she had been suffering from a knee injury in the run-up to the semifinal. She made it to the finals at Wimbledon and is looking to end Grand Slam season on top when she goes head to head with Karolina in Flushing Meadows, NY. But she fought back in the third set and wore down the towering Czech, who started to wilt in the punishing conditions, hunching over her racket at the end of nearly every point.
Pliskova had entered the US Open on a high after defeating the world No3, Garbiñe Muguruza, before topping Kerber en route to the Cincinnati title. She is just the fourth player in the Open Era, behind Evonne Goolagong (1971), Steffi Graf (1987) and Martina Hingis (1997) to have reach three major finals in the same year they reached their first. “Angie proved she is the number one, it was an honor to play her”. “I was actually really exhausted because I came from Rio and I had a lot of tough matches there”, Australian Open victor Kerber, who claimed silver at the Rio Olympics, told reporters.
“How I was dealing with the pressure when I came here and everybody was asking me about the number one, this is what I was trying to improve”, said Kerber, who was denied in her first bid to supplant Williams when she lost to Pliskova in the Cincinnati final before the US Open. She was four for five on break-point opportunities overall. Usually content to play defense, Wozniacki found herself trying to force the issue and made an uncharacteristic 26 unforced errors.
Te 24-year-old Pliskova also comes in winning 11 straight matches including wins over both Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, this week.
“You can not compare those two (Serena Williams and Kerber)”, explained Pliskova. At the same time, she is also a very kind player, who was recognized by the USTA with the Sportsmanship Award, also won by Kei Nishikori on the men’s side.
She added the US Open crown to the Australian Open title she claimed in January, breaking Pliskova at love to cap the triumph.
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This happened a year ago as well. Kerber last won on the hard courts at Stanford in 2015, but Pliskova actually owns the more recent win, and it came on a big stage. “I will just take the positives and move forward”.
