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US Open Tennis 2016 Results: Thursday Winners, Scores, Stats and Draw Update
- Updated: September 9, 2016
Karolina Pliskova kicked off the semifinals of the U.S. Open with a massive upset over No. 1 Serena Williams by a score of 6-2, 7-6.
The 10th-seeded Pliskova was excellent with her serve to knock out the American, who returned to the court only about 21 hours after beating Simona Halep in three sets the night before. With the loss, Williams will automatically drop out of the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for the first time in 186 weeks, according to SportsCenter.
Angelique Kerber will take over the top spot regardless of how she finishes this tournament.
Pliskova will now advance to her first final to take on the winner of Kerber vs. Caroline Wozniacki, who will battle in the second semifinal later Thursday night.
Karolina Pliskova def. Serena Williams; 6-2, 7-6 (5)
In a match between two of the best servers in women’s tennis, Pliskova was the better performer on the day to pull off the shocker.
The Czech player won 84 percent of her first serves, earned seven aces and faced only a single break point in the entire match. Meanwhile, Williams struggled with her accuracy (53 percent of first serves in play and six double-faults) while being broken three times.
Jane McManus of ESPN.com did a great job of summing up Williams’ inconsistency:
Recapping Serena’s night. Brilliant point, crap error, brilliant point, double fault.
— Jane McManus (@janesports) September 9, 2016
Pliskova came out with about as strong of a start as you could hope for against an elite player …
