NEW YORK – For the second straight year Serena Williams saw her bid for a seventh US Open tennis title halted in the semi-finals. Her 6-2, 7-6(5) loss to Karolina Pliskova on Thursday also ended her long reign as world number one.
A year ago the top-seeded American went into the semi-finals on the cusp of a rare calendar-year grand slam, but was the victim of one of the biggest upsets in tennis history when Roberta Vinci, a 300-to-1 longshot, prevailed.
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 Williams off an Arthur Ashe Stadium court she claimed as her own in one hour, 26 minutes.
“I always knew I have a chance to beat anybody if I’m playing my game. But this is something amazing. Serena, she’s a champion, so it’s never easy to play her,” Pliskova said in a courtside interview. (Reuters/EZS)
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