Pliskova’s Reign as No. 1 Is Over After Loss To Vandeweghe
September 7, 2017 in Sports News
American CoCo Vandeweghe yesterday played aggressively to defeat Czech Karolina Pliskova, ranked number 1 in the world, in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Pliskova’s defeat means that Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza will become the number one ranked player in the world on Monday when the new rankings are published by the WTA.
With the defeat, Pliskova will lose 870 WTA points, which will allow Muguruza to surpass her in the rankings.
Vandeweghe won the tense two-set match (7-6 and 6-3) in 94-minutes, to drop Pliskova from atop the WTA rankings. Muguruza will now be in possession of the number one spot despite having fallen in the round of 16 against Czech player Petra Kvitova.
The American is now hoping to reach her first Grand Slam final as she waits for the winner of the other quarterfinal match between American Madison Keys and Estonian Kaia Kanepi (ranked 418th in the world).
Vandeweghe advanced to her second Grand Slam semifinal eight months after reaching the Australian Open semis in January. The 25-year-old American dominated with her strong first serve, that had an amazing 83 percent of effectiveness. Additionally, she placed 24 winning shots against 15 by Pliskova.
Two early breaks in each set allowed Vandeweghe to set the tone of the match, but Pliskova reacted ferociously in the first set to try and save her number one spot. Although Vandeweghe jumped to a 4-2 lead the match was tied 4-4 after eight games as Pliskova reacted.
Both players won their next two serves to make the score 6-6 after 12 games and force a tiebreak that was won by the American 7-4 and take the opening set in 54 minutes.
In the second set, the American broke Pliskova’s serve twice to take a 5-2 lead, but the Czech served and made it 5-3 before Vandeweghe served for the win and took the second set 6-3.
To continue being ranked number one in the world Pliskova had to at least reach the final of the US Open, the stage that she reached last year when she lost to German player Angelique Kerber.
Muguruza, 23, will become the twenty-fourth player to occupy the WTA’s top spot, the third this year after Kerber and Pliskova, who spent eight weeks atop the rankings.
The other semifinal is already set and will be played between Americans players Venus Williams (N.9) and Sloane Stephens (N.83).