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US Open Tennis 2016: TV Schedule and Women’s Semifinal Predictions
- Updated: September 8, 2016
Serena Williams is back in the semifinals of the U.S. Open.
She is hoping that her meeting with Karolina Pliskova on Thursday will go better than her match with Roberta Vinci did a year ago.
Williams was going for the calendar-year Grand Slam in last year’s national championship after winning the Australian Open, Rolland Garros and Wimbledon. All that stood in the way of her playing for the U.S. Open was the lightly regarded Italian player.
Most thought Williams would win in overpowering fashion with her dominating serve and consistent ground strokes. However, Vinci refused to be intimidated, and the longer she hung in there, the tighter Williams got. It ended with Williams losing in three sets.
Williams won’t get a chance for redemption against Vinci—she was eliminated by No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals—but she can move forward if she can get the best of the 10th-seeded Czech player.
Williams may have already had her scare of the 2016 tournament, as she was extended to three sets by fifth-seeded Simona Halep Wednesday. After Williams took the first set by a 6-2 margin, it looked like she would have an easy quarterfinal victory.
However, Halep showed her best form and took the second set by a score of 6-4, using a 22-point final game to clinch the set.
But Williams bounced back in the third set and …
