AO: Serena Williams collapsed in the quarters, path to No.1 open
With Serena Williams out, predicting the winner of the Australian Open’s women’s final just got a lot harder, making the women’s draw a highly anticipated fight for the title.
Serena Williams had match point in what seemed like a lopsided set, at 5-1 in the third, and then it all unraveled.
The rest of the set against Karolina Pliskova was surreal.
Serena Williams went to serve to close out the set, then was correctly called for a foot fault. Pliskova—a former world No. 1—hit a fantastic passing shot. Ms. Williams misjudged the direction of it, changed courses, and twisted her ankle in the process. Pliskova pounced to win all the games back, straight into her spot in the finals.
Serena Williams lost her chance to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24, at least for now, and said she will forge ahead towards her goal to cement the greatest of all time status.
“The big picture for me is always winning. I’m not going to sit here and lie about that,” Williams said in her press conference afterwards. “It hasn’t happened yet, but I feel like it’s going to happen.” All the slams are in contention for the 27 year-old. “Roland Garros. Because it’s the next Slam,” was her confident answer.
To the 23-slam winner’s credit, Ms. Williams refused to ask for a trainer after the twisted ankle, nor did she blink an eye about the foot fault, legitimately called, figuring that at 5-1, and match point, the legend would pull it off. Or perhaps, her outburst at the U.S. Open final still haunted her.
“I can’t say that I choked. [Pliskova] literally played her best tennis ever on those shots. I’ve never seen anything like it. Next time I’m up 5-1 against anybody, I need to make sure I play lights out. It’s a good learning experience.”
Pliskova—after her awesome comeback in the match—took full advantage of Serena’s collapse and put on an all-court aggression to grab her spot in the round of four.
“I think it’s the best comeback so far in my life,” Pliskova said in her on-court interview. “The biggest win against [Serena] is that I believed I could win. That was the victory for me today.”
Fight for new No. 1
With Serena out, it leaves three Top 10 players vying for the new world No. 1: Petra Kvitova (current No. 6), Naomi Osaka (4), in addition to Pliskova (6).
Only Danielle Collins lies outside the spectrum at world No. 35. Depending on if the sensational American makes the final or wins the tournament, the 25 year-old is likely to crack the Top 30 at least. If she wins, she could be looking at the Top 20 or even top 10. At any rate, Collins will be walking away from Melbourne a higher-ranked player, and will certainly be considered a contender for the title at any future tournament.
Under other scenarios, Osaka, Pliskova, and Kvitova could end up as potential world No. 1, 2, and 3, correctly reflecting their successful fun at the first grand slam. With the three players likely cracking the Top 5, their new rankings signal the depth of talent in the women’s game.
Serena Williams will likely recover in time to wreak havoc for the rest of the year. Ankle issues certainly aren’t new for the world class athlete, who played her quarterfinal match with both ankles taped up before the misstep happened.
For the captivating women left in the draw, Saturday will produce a new Australian Open champion, and likely a new No. 1 as well.
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