“To be here in the final for the first time, that means a lot”.
Advertisement
This was the 33rd major semifinal of Williams’ career, and the first for Pliskova, who beat the 34-year-old American’s older sister Venus in the fourth round.
Perhaps the pressure of trying to win all four Major tournaments in one year was the culprit, or perhaps it was merely the unexpected brilliance of Roberta Vinci that day. “Being a professional, if I am not able to recover, I am not going to make excuses”. “To be number one in the world, it sounds unbelievable”.
“I will just do anything to win the title here”. “I was actually really exhausted because I came from Rio and I had a lot of tough matches there”, Kerber said.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared, and Kerber celebrated by raising her right hand and wagging her index finger in the air, as if to remind opponent Karolina Pliskova – and everyone else – “I’m No. 1!”.
“We play every single week”, she said.
Williams is tied with Steffi Graf for the record of most Grand Slams.
“Definitely it was about those last two, three weeks that I have played here”. For two years in a row she has faced an underdog in the semi-finals of her home Grand Slam event knowing that she was on the verge of creating history. “I was actually really exhausted because I came from Rio [Olympic Games] and I had a lot of tough matches there”, Kerber said. Now she tries to win her first Open.
“I was pretty calm today”, Pliskova told The Guardian.
“My mind was just a little bit everywhere, but it was what it was”, Williams said.
Williams was reluctant to discuss how long the injury might affect her and the rest of her schedule this year but was adamant she was not affected by fatigue.
“Karolina played great. I think if she had played any less then maybe I would have had a chance”.
“To be the next German No. 1 in the world after Steffi, it’s really special, ” Kerber said.
Advertisement
The 28-year-old’s victory ensures her spot in an incredible third grand slam final of the year, having won her maiden grand slam at the Australian Open, while losing to Williams in the Wimbledon finale. As Kerber gets ready to wear the No 1 crown, she would love to celebrate the occasion with the US Open title. However, she’s now on an 11-match winning streak, according to the AP, and as she puts it, she only has “one more step to go”.
