Sports Announcer. Andy Taylor. The Voice of the US Open
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Coco Vandeweghe def Karolina Pliskova 76(4) 63
She is 2017’s top-seed slayer at the Majors. Chaulk up another straight-sets win over a world #1 for Coco Vandeweghe. In January, she eliminated defending champion Angelique Kerber en-route to her first Major Semifinal at the Australian Open. On Wednesday, she ended Karolina Pliskova’s seven-week run as the WTA’s top-ranked player, advancing to her second Grand Slam Semifinal of the year. That is monstrous mojo. Coco’s swagger and confidence ignited this year, with coach Pat Cash fanning the flames.
True, Pliskova hasn’t been playing her best tennis at this year’s Open. After reaching the Semifinals in Cincinnati, since her arrival in Flushing, Pliskova has been flat. In the 2nd-Round, she dropped the first-set 2-6 to Nicole Gibbs. In Round-3, she fought off match point, ultimately defeating Shuai Zhang 6-4 in the decider. But on Monday, she leveled American Jennifer Brady and appeared to be trending toward the overpowering consistency that vaulted her to last year’s US Open Final.
Confident Coco. Determination. Self-realization
Rather than think defensively, Vandeweghe focused on her own power, and earned a break before the first changeover. Pliskova would break back half-way through the set, but Coco outplayed the World #1 in the tiebreak.
In the second, Vandeweghe refused to take her foot off the gas, even when the road got bumpy. Up a break 3-1, Coco gifted the break right back, losing a frustrating deuce clash where unforced errors denied her a single game-point. Pissed, she channeled the rage, shot ahead 15-40 after the changeover, and stole Pliskova’s serve for the third time. That’s all she needed. With a subsequent hold, she was up 5-2 and served out the match two games later.
Three Americans in the US Open Semifinals
With the win, Coco is now the third American into the US Open Semifinals. Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens will face each other in tomorrow’s first Semifinal. Should Madison Keys defeat Kaia Kanepi tonight, it will the first all-American US Open Semifinal since 1981…ten years before Vandeweghe was born.
