Serena Williams out at the Open after straight-set loss in semis

Sep 15, 2016, 07:10
Serena Williams out at the Open after straight-set loss in semis

Whereas the American was defeated by crafty veteran Roberta Vinci 12 months ago to end hopes of a rare calendar-year slam, an ailing Williams lost to big-hitting Karolina Pliskova 6-2 7-6 (7-5) on Thursday in NY.

Last year, Vinci ended Williams' hopes of becoming only the fourth woman in history to complete a pure calendar year Grand Slam and this time she would have broken Steffi Graf's Open era record of 22 Slam singles titles by winning the tournament.

Murray and Soares, who won the first Grand Slam they played together at the Australian Open in January, knocked off defending champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach the final.

'Karolina played great today, ' said Williams. "For me, it's just unbelievable to be after Steffi the next No.1 player in Germany", said Kerber, who at 28 will become the oldest player to reach No.1.

Despite the injury, Williams admitted Pliskova earned her victory.

With a third Grand Slam final of the year on the horizon, Angelique Kerber couldn't afford to lose her focus despite realizing her once only dreamed-of rise to world No.1.

She told reporters: "It's just incredible".

Williams suffered a shock defeat in Arthur Ashe Stadium by Karolina Pliskova to end her pursuit of a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title, as well as losing her status as the world's top player.

"I don't know if I was like prepared for this, but I think I played awesome year".

Pliskova will meet Angelique Kerber in Saturday's final, Kerber beating a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki in the night's second semifinal, 6-4, 6-3. Her defense is exemplary, scrambling along the baseline to put her racket on seemingly every ball, crouching so low that her knees would come close to scraping the ground.

Spoke to media Pliskova said that, "I am very happy and so much excited to be in the final". Like I was making errors I never make.

"I've been having some serious left knee problems but I wasn't exhausted, fatigue had absolutely nothing to do with it I mean, if I was exhausted I should definitely get into a new career", Williams said.

It also means Williams' 3½-year reign at No. 1 in the WTA rankings ends. "I will try to take the revenge against her", said Kerber, who holds a 4-3 career edge over the big-serving Pliskova. She relinquished a break advantage midway in the second but prevailed in a tense tiebreak, sealing the affair on Williams' double fault long.

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