The Australian Open quarterfinals Tuesday night (Wednesday in Australia) saw a remarkable comeback, with Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic rallying from a 5-1 third-set deficit to take down Serena Williams 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Williams faced some challenges throughout, but seemed set to move on after taking a 5-1 lead in the third and decisive set. She suffered an ankle injury, though, and despite earning four match points, couldn’t put it away. Pliskova instead rallied to win six straight games and the match. Here’s the final match point:
Williams clearly wasn’t moving well after that injury, but she still managed to put up a great fight and make Pliskova work hard for the victory. In the end, though, Pliskova was up to the task, fending off those four match points and bouncing back to take the match. She’ll move on to the semifinals against fourth seed Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the final of the U.S. Open last September. Meanwhile, Williams’ quest for her 24th Grand Slam singles title (and her first since her return from giving birth in September 2017) will have to wait.
[Clippit]
