Pliskova stuns Williams
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was upset in the U.S. Open semifinals for the second year in a row, beaten 6-2, 7-6 (5) by 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday night.
Pliskova’s opponent in Saturday’s final will be No. 2 Angelique Kerber, who defeated Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 6-3, in the other semifinal contest Thursday. Kerber will move up one spot to No. 1 on Monday, ending Williams’ stay of 186 consecutive weeks, exactly the same number Steffi Graf compiled for the record.
Williams, who clutched at her left leg between points in the second set, double-faulted to end it.
Afterward, her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, said Williams injured her left knee in the quarterfinals.
The loss prevents Williams from earning her seventh championship at Flushing Meadows and 23rd major title overall, which would both have been Open-era records.
A year ago, Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended when she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals to unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy in the semifinals.
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. Pliskova is only the fourth woman to beat both Williams siblings during the same Grand Slam tournament.
And to think: The 24-year-old Pliskova had never been past the third round in 17 previous appearances at majors.
But on Thursday, she certainly looked the part of an up-and-comer with the strokes and demeanor to go far.
The temperature was in the low 80s, and the air was muggy and still, and Williams kept using the pleats of her blackand-pink skirt to wipe her sweaty palms between points.
Watching Williams miss shot after shot — 31 unforced errors in all — one couldn’t help but wonder why.
One thought: Maybe it was a recurrence of the soreness in her right shoulder that became bothersome in the days right after she won singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon two months ago. Or perhaps it was the toll of the grueling three-set quarterfinal against Simona Halep that concluded less than 22 hours before the semifinal started. But by the latter stages, Williams kept reaching for her left leg.