Karolina Pliskova shattered Serena Williams' bid for a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title on Thursday, her 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) win setting-up a US Open final against new World No 1 Angelique Kerber.
The win for Czech 10th seed Pliskova meant the 34-year-old American was deposed as the world's top player, losing her chance to stay at the peak for a record 187 weeks.
In Saturday's championship match, Pliskova will tackle second seed Kerber who marked her coronation as the new world number one with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki.
It will be Pliskova's first appearance in a Grand Slam final while Australian Open champion Kerber will be in her third final of the year having finished runner-up to Williams at Wimbledon. Williams, who also lost in the semifinals last year which ended her bid to claim a rare calendar Slam, said she had been suffering from a knee injury in the run-up to the semifinal.
Pliskova, the first Czech woman in the US Open final since Helena Sukova in 1993, said she had not noticed that her opponent was carrying an injury.
The 24-year-old preferred to focus on finally making a Slam championship match after never making it past the third round of a major in 17 prior attempts.
"I knew I had the chance to beat anyone if I played my game. I am excited to be in the final and to beat Serena as she is such a great champion," said the 6ft 1in (1.86m) Czech who had also beaten Venus Williams in the fourth round.
"Even when she was down a set and break she was still fighting. I had to fight hard to win."
Despite the injury, Williams admitted Pliskova earned her victory."Karolina played great today. I think if she had played any less then maybe I would have had a chance," said Williams.
Kerber, the 28-year-old left-hander, is the first German woman to reach the final since Steffi Graf in 1996. Graf is also the only other German woman to achieve the top ranking.
The German leads Pliskova 4-3 in their head to heads, but the Czech won their most recent meeting in the Cincinnati final last month.
Mixed doubles final: Laura Siegemund/Mate Pavic bt 7-CoCo Vandeweghe/Rajeev Ram 6-4, 6-4.
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