Serena Williams vs. Karolina Pliskova
How did the women who were on court on Wednesday end up playing their semifinal before the women who had the day off? Maybe ESPN wants Serena at 7:00 p.m. ET sharp, or maybe Serena herself doesn’t want to play the late match a day-and-a-half before the final. Either way, Williams and Pliskova are making a quick turnaround, especially Serena, who played a taxing, three-set night-session match against Simona Halep on Wednesday. She says she doesn’t mind because she plays every day at most other, non-major events. But you have to think that, at 34, she’ll feel the effects more than her 24-year-old opponent. Serena and Pliskova have played once, two years ago in Stanford, and Serena won in straight sets. This time Pliskova is coming in on a 10-match win streak, one that included blowout victories over the two women ranked just below Serena, Angelique Kerber and Garbiñe Muguruza. Pliskova has the serve and the game to beat Serena, too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she pulled another upset over a potentially sluggish Williams. But while Pliskova is ready physically to do it, is she ready mentally?
Winner: S. Williams
Angelique Kerber vs. Caroline Wozniacki
These two have been playing each other since 2008, and their matchups have stayed pretty even over the course of those eight years. Kerber leads the head to head 7-5, but they’ve split their last four meetings. Wozniacki jumped out of the career gate faster, reaching No. 1 by the time she was 20; now she’s 26 and ranked 74th. Kerber was a later bloomer who appeared seemingly from nowhere to reach the semifinals of the 2011 U.S. Open at age 23; now she’s 28 and is just couple wins short of becoming No. 1. Together, these two counterpunchers play long points, and they’ve been known to throw a moon ball in each other’s direction; five of their 12 matches have gone three sets. Kerber is the better player now, but Wozniacki is on a roll at her favorite Slam, where she has been a finalist twice. How far has Angie distanced herself from Caro this season? Far enough that Caro, who is rumored to be considering retirement next year, can’t win one for old time’s sake?
Winner: Kerber