Earlier in the afternoon, sister Venus Williams was ousted from the tournament in a dramatic three-set loss to Karolina Pliskova, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), meaning the Williams sisters will not meet in the semifinals later this week.
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Monday afternoon at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams became the winningest player in Grand Slam history, notching her 308th career match win in a major main draw.
ON THIS DATE (Sept. 6, 1975): Manuel Orantes comes from two sets down and an 0-5 fourth-set deficit to beat Guillermo Vilas 4-6, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 and win men’s singles title on clay courts at Forest Hills. Now I don’t really see when I’m going to stop because I’m just enjoying these moments out here, getting to break records that I didn’t even know existed or I didn’t even know was possible. Winning 308 matches in general is pretty awesome.
Still showing no sign of the sore shoulder that troubled her at the Rio Olympics, Williams fired 11 aces, 28 total winners and had just 13 unforced errors. “It’s not going to be an easy one, but I’m excited just to have another shot”. She was stunned by unseeded Croatian Ana Konjuh, 4-6, 4-6.
“I didn’t expect to be in quarters in my second Grand Slam after my comeback”, he said later. “So I just went for it this time”. And there was an obvious outpouring for Williams, a two-time champion here who first played the Open in 1997 and reached the final.
The Czech would win the second set though, and forces a decider, and is serving for the match, only Venus is able to get a late break, and forces a tiebreak thanks to this forehand victor.
Top-seeded Serena Williams cruised into the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open on Monday, establishing another record in the process, but her sister, Venus Williams, was eliminated in NY.
Kerber’s run to the quarters means the American must at least reach the final to stay top for a 187th consecutive which would, of course, be a record.
Williams, meanwhile, still has work to do at Flushing Meadows as she pursues another mark: most Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era, which began in 1968.
Williams has a 7-1 head-to-head lead on Halep, who won the summer event in Montreal last month. Kerber will now play against 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci, the seventh seed from Italy.
The match between Pliskova and Venus Williams got off to a tepid start but by the time the two players had reached the third set both had found their rhythm, elevating the contest into an engrossing battle of the highest quality. They had also met in US Open third round three years back when Williams had won in straight sets.
Konjuh, 18, never previously advanced beyond the third round of a major.
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“She’s an incredible player and I’m just happy to have the opportunity to play her again”, Konjuh said. Known for a big serve – she had eight aces Monday – Pliskova came to NY with momentum, having beaten Angelique Kerber in the Cincinnati final last month, a result that prevented Kerber from taking the No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams.
