Serena Williams beats Karolina Pliskova, advances to US Open semifinals

Serena Williams has advanced to the semifinals of the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, after beating the eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova in a quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday.

Williams will go on to face the 19th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova for a spot in the final after the 6-4, 6-3 victory. It will be Williams’ 12th appearance in the US Open semifinals.

Going into Tuesday’s matchup, Williams and Pliskova has only played each other twice before. They first played at Stanford in 2014, a hard court, and Williams won. They next played two years later in the semifinals of the US Open, where Pliskova got the win. Both were straight sets.

After a slow start, Williams hit her stride and found her serve. She was broken early by Pliskova, but eventually took control and was dominant in the second.

In the first set, Williams was broken early, but with Pliskova serving at 4-3, Williams broke back to get back on serve. Williams had two double faults by that point, and was having trouble getting her first serves in Pliskova was contesting her service games very well. Williams then held, and broke Pliskova again to take the first set after her slow start.

The second set was a dominant one, at least to start, with Williams controlling just about every aspect of it. She was broken in her 4-0 service game, double faulting after saving the first of two break points. Pliskova then held to make it 4-2, but Williams was still well in control. Pliskova simply had herself a couple of strong games in response, but it wasn’t enough.

Williams’ return to tennis following the birth of her child has been a successful one, regardless of the outcome of Tuesday’s match. She’s looked energetic, powerful and motivated, and has beaten plenty of top players. You don’t make it to the Wimbledon final if you’ve really lost a step, but that’s where Williams made it not long after her return, losing to Angelique Kerber in the final.

At the US Open, which Williams missed last year due to the aforementioned pregnancy, she’s looked great. She bested Magda Linette in her opener, then Carina Witthoeft in the second round, her sister, Venus Williams, in the third round and Kaia Kanepi in the Round of 16. All but the most recent match was a straight-set victory, with her win over Venus being particularly dominant at 6-1, 6-2.

Pliskova’s run through the US Open has been impressive, though she hasn’t run into a top 10 seed yet. She bested Zarina Diyas, Ana Bogdan, Sofia Kenin and Ashleigh Barty, all in straight sets.

Sevastova has beaten Donna Vekic, Claire Liu, Ekaterina Makarova and most recently, the seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina at the US Open. She has never faced Williams.