By Chris Oddo | Saturday August 20, 2016

 

Angelique Kerber moved to within a win of becoming the 22nd No. 1 in WTA history with a win over Simona Halep on Saturday in Cincinnati.

Photo Source: Christopher Levy

Angelique Kerber is one stop from ending Serena Williams’ 183-week reign at the top of the WTA rankings after defeating Simona Halep in the Western and Southern Open semifinals, 6-3, 6-4.

More: Pliskova Rises above Halep to Reach First Cincy Final

The German, who has repeatedly stressed that she’s not thinking about the significance of what she’s about to achieve this week when peppered by reporters and broadcasts journalists, played like a future No. 1 on Saturday as she moved past Halep with a brilliant display of counterpunching and grace under pressure.

“I still have one match to go,” Kerber told ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the semifinal. “If it happens it will be amazing but still I have to focus on the next match against a really tough opponent, Pliskova, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

Kerber and Halep both started erratically on Saturday beneath threatening skies, with the German holding a 4-3 edge when the rains came and forced a lengthy delay. After the pair returned, Kerber was more prepared, and immediately took advantage of a letdown from Halep by taking eight of nine points to claim the first set.

Halep, bidding to reach back-to-back finals at Cincinnati, could not seem to dial in her focus as the second set began. Several unforced errors later Kerber had a 2-0 lead, and though Halep would pick up her level the feisty Kerber saved seven break points to hold for 3-0 then broke again for 4-0.

Halep wasn’t done fighting however, and she finally made some inroads by winning three straight games to put the pressure on, but Kerber responded by saving a break point for 5-3 and closed out the match two games later on serve when Halep’s 50th unforced error landed wide of the tramline.

The loss snaps a personal 13-match winning streak for the Romanian.

Kerber will face Karolina Pliskova with a shot at becoming the 22nd No. 1 in WTA history on Sunday. The Czech walloped Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza, 6-1, 6-3 in Saturday’s first semifinal.

Kerber holds a 4-2 lifetime edge over Pliskova, and has taken the last two meetings in three sets.

Notes, Quotes

Serena Williams has held the top spot in the WTA rankings since February 18, 2013. Her current 183-week streak at No. 1 is just three weeks shy of the all-time record, which is held by Steffi Graf.

There have been 21 No.1-ranked players in WTA history (since 1975). Steffi Graf was the last German to hold the top spot, which she relinquished on March 30, 1997.

Kerber improves to 47-13 on the season. She earned her first win over Halep on a hardcourt, improving to 1-4 vs. the Romanian on the surface.