Grand slam record after tough win over Halep

tomorrow’s final, with either Kerber or Caroline Wozniacki lying in wait.

Pliskova and Williams have delivered a combined total of 92 aces here – 60 for Williams, 32 for Pliskova – and power is likely to prove decisive again.

“I haven’t played against many big servers recently, but she places her serve really well,” Williams said.

“She definitely gets some speed on it, but her placement is really, really nice. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to read them and play OK.”

Pliskova knocked out Serena’s older sister Venus in the last 16 and Serena admitted she would consult her sibling

0 Serena Williams: 22 slams. for advice on the Czech. “I’m sure she will tell me something, but I’ll be there,” Williams said. “I’ll be ready.”

Pliskova will be playing her first grand slam semifinal after earlier easing past Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-2, 6-2.

The world No 11 had never gone past the third round of a major tournament before but arrived in New York on a high, having just beaten Kerber to claim the title in Cincinnati last month.

Her victory over 18-year-old Konjuh was her tenth in a row and took just 57 minutes.

“I’m not going to complain,” Pliskova said. “I’m happy that it went so easy. Of course I was expecting a little bit tougher battle, but happy that it went so easy.”

Pliskova lost her only previous meeting with Williams, at Stanford in 2014, and knows she will be the underdog again.

“I’m sure always when you play someone who is better than you it’s a little bit different because you don’t have any pressure,” Pliskova said.

“Like I had a little bit pressure against Konjuh that she was an outsider, so it’s like you have to beat her.

“I’m just going to go and play everything that I have and put everything in that match because I have nothing to lose.”

Pliskova also has a twin sister, Kristyna, who is ranked 122nd in the world. Asked what it would be like to have a twin on the tennis tour, Williams added: “It would be a living hell.”