Serena Williams’s upset loss in the U.S. Open semifinals has driven the ticket resale market into a tailspin.
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When Serena Williams met the press after the loss to Karolina Pliskova, the reason of her bad performance was already revealed.
Pliskova, at 24, is showing the promise of her teen years, when she won the Australian juniors.
That win over Venus Williams in the round of 16 (she was the only top-20 player never to have reached that round in a Grand Slam) was a mental steppingstone. But now that Kerber has said ranking secure, she seeks not to be denied another piece of history by her foe, and win her second major title.
Once she broke that hoodoo, a confident Pliskova fought back from 1-3 down in the second set and saved a match point at 4-5 in the third to defeat Venus Williams (4-6, 6-4, 7-6) in front of a partisan American crowd.
“Karolina played great today”.
“I will just do anything to win the title here, ” Pliskova said. Her three tournament victories this season and her six straight wins in Flushing Meadows tell her that she has not only arrived at the Open women’s final, but in the upper echelon of the game.
This year it was Czech 10th seed Pliskova, who until this week had never played beyond the third round of a Grand Slam, delivering the upset as she swept Serena off an Arthur Ashe Stadium court she claims as her own in 86 minutes. “I think she’s proud of me to be the next one after her”. Pliskova was quite surprised herself, saying she couldn’t believe she beat the former No. 1 Williams before adding “I mean, actually, I do believe it”.
“(Here) I can really prepare for the final against Pliskova.
On paper, Pliskova, the first Czech in the U.S. Open final since Helena Sukova lost to Graf in 1993, is the tournament leader. Kerber was ruthless in her pursuit, breaking again for a 4-1 lead before she cracked when serving for the match, getting broken to love. The 6-1 Czech has a regal bearing on the court, shows little emotion other than an abbreviated first pump, and goes about her business.
Kerber, who becomes the only German woman other than Graf to get to No. 1, had a chance to overtake Williams last month by winning a hard-court tournament in OH, but lost the final there to Pliskova. “Final or first round, it’s the same”, Mouratoglou said. “I know how I was playing in Cincinnati”. As Kerber gets ready to wear the No 1 crown, she would love to celebrate the occasion with the US Open title.
Despite the injury, Williams admitted Pliskova earned her victory.
Kerber, who reached the finals at the Rio Olympics as well, leads Pliskova 4-3 in head-to-head matchups, but was blown off the court in their most recent duel, losing last month’s Cincinnati final 6-3, 6-1. I hope I don’t stop yet, that there is still one more step to go.
She certainly appeared to have her mind elsewhere as she slipped 2-0 down in the second set before a 27-shot rally in the third game helped her open her account.
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If you’re into “evil sports organization controls everything” conspiracy theories, then the obvious move would be for the Women’s Tennis Association to rig every tournament so that Serena is at least in the finals.
