It rarely happens that Serena Williams has a 5-1 lead in the third set and that her opponent recovers, but that’s exactly what Karolina Pliskova did in the Australian Open quarterfinals, retaining her perfect win-loss record in 2019 with a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory on Wednesday.
We are used to seeing Serena coming back from the brink of defeat, but the American rarely let’s that scenario happen to her opponents. Today in Melbourne, however, the seventh-seeded Pliskova won the last six games of their quarterfinal and capitalized on her third match point, after Williams wasted four of her own, not being able to handle Pliskova’s power and precision in those crucial moments.
Pliskova had led by a set and a break at 3-2, when the 16th-seeded Williams took charge and seemed to be racing to victory by winning nine out of ten games. The American then rolled her left ankle during the rally on her first match point, when serving at 5-1, and since that moment she won no points on her serve, but after the match the 23-time Grand Slam champion said that the loss had nothing to do with that incident, rather, her opponent “played unbelievable on match points”, “was hitting lines” and “played really well”.
Pliskova’s opponent in the semifinals will be fourth seed Naomi Osaka, the reigning US Open champion who has been at least in the semifinals at four of her last five tournaments. The Japanese defeated sixth seed Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-1 earlier on Wednesday in Melbourne. The other Australian Open semifinal will be contested between eighth seed Petra Kvitova and unseeded Danielle Collins.
I was watching this live and when Serena was serving that first match point at 5-1, I was rubbing my hands together in anticipation of a rematch of the US Open final between Serena and Naomi Osaka! And then… what in the hell happened!?
I still can’t believe Serena didn’t close it out. Very uncharacteristic of her, even if she wasn’t 100% after rolling her ankle.
What happened was that sorry lines person calling a foot fault when Serena served an ace and had match point. Unfortunately, she went downhill thereafter. Seemed worn out, unfocused and no zeal/passion to win after that. Very shocking situation, indeed. Also, Pliskova had quite a bit of “luck” with a number of Serena’s balls hitting the net and falling over to her advantage. Yeah, what happened seemed like another awful nightmare for Serena. I just pray she never gives up; seems to be losing her fire and enthusiasm these days; looked too heavy in weight, especially in stomach area, making it difficult to work that amazing serve of hers. I can’t help but wonder if she’s pregnant again. By the way, Osaka just eliminated Pliskova; she’s on her way to the final. Yay! Sweet revenge for her idol, The Living Legend, Serena “GOAT” Williams! Go, Naomi “Sock it to ’em” Osaka! Sure hope she gains slam consistency now, because she hasn’t done so thus far.
Agreed, Tennis Fan. Seemingly, Serena’s body was on the court but her mind wasn’t. Sad, sad, shame. She can deny all she wants that her ankle/foot twist situation didn’t affect her play. Anybody who watched that match knows that’s not true; her serve was never the same thereafter. She relented and let Pliskova take it. And now, Osaka has taken care of Pliskova; hope she wins the title.