Baseline Awards: Nerves of steel performance

It’s one thing to defeat Venus Williams before a partisan crowd at the US Open in one of the most thrilling matches of the year, but to replicate that with a win over Serena Williams a couple of rounds later?

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Karolina Pliskova, the 10th seed at the US Open, came into the tournament full of confidence, having just captured the biggest title of her career in Cincinnati. After breezing through her first three matches in New York, the Czech found herself in the second week of a major for the first time. Her reward: two-time US Open champ—and sentimental favorite—Venus Williams.

Pliskova rallied to win in a third-set tiebreak, then stormed through her quarterfinal match. Her journey through uncharted territory continued with a surprising straight-sets win over Serena in the semifinals. The magic ended in the final against Angelique Kerber, who came back to win after being down a break in the third set.

Throughout the tournament, Pliskova relied on her biggest weapon—her serve—which held up under the trying conditions of facing the Williams sisters. Beating them landed her in some prestigious company: She joined Hall of Famers like Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters in defeating Venus and Serena in the same tournament.