Pliskova stuns Serena to advance to US Open final
Serena Williams has been toppled in the US Open semifinals for a second straight year.
This time, the giant slayer was world No. 11 Karolina Pliskova, who stunned Serena 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Thursday night to advance to her first career Grand Slam final. In the process, she also ended Serena's record-tying reign at No. 1 at 186 straight weeks, and denied her a chance to surpass Steffi Graf with a 23rd major title.
If Pliskova was at all phased by her first foray onto this big stage, or by the challenge of trying to beat a player who came in with a 28-5 career record in Slam semis, it didn't show. She betrayed scarcely any emotion as she punished a sloppy, purportedly injured Serena with booming serves and deep, heavy groundstrokes.
Pliskova held the baseline, refusing to get pushed back by her opponent's equivalent power. She tattooed the ball to all courts, and mercilessly moved Serena - who professed to dealing with a knee injury - around the court. She showed off her own improved movement, ranging to hook balls back from beyond the doubles alleys, and clinching one of her three break points in the match with a sick running forehand up the line.
After galloping away with the first set in a cool, clinical 26 minutes, Pliskova dug in for a dogfight in the second, rebounding from a hiccup at 3-2 - when she got broken at love - and twice holding to stay in the set. She then survived Serena's last, desperate push in the tiebreaker, winning the last three points after falling behind 5-4, and taking the match when Serena double-faulted on match point.
It was a fitting end for Serena, who spent the majority of the match spraying groundstrokes, looking tight in big spots, and squandering put-away opportunities at the net.
"I don't think much went well today," she told reporters after the match. "I made a lot of errors. I didn't play as well as I've been playing."
As for Pliskova, she didn't quite seem to know what to feel.
"I don't believe it," she said in her on-court interview, but when asked why not, she thought about it for a second and changed her tune. "Actually, I do believe it."
She should. She's now on an 11-match winning streak, a run that includes wins over the the world's top three players (and all three 2016 major champs), and a championship in Cincinnati. She's just the fourth player to beat both Venus and Serena at the same major, and the first since Kim Clijsters in 2009. ("America probably hates me," she joked.)
The 24-year-old has long been waiting for her Slam results to catch up to her year-round WTA success, and they finally have. She's arrived.