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For second-straight year, Serena falters in U.S. Open semifinals, this time to Pliskova

NEW YORK – Call it déjà vu, Groundhog Day or simply a case of “Here we go again.” For the second straight year, top-ranked Serena Williams was stunned in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, this time to No. 10-seed KarolinaPliskova. In 2015, Williams was looking to complete the calendar Grand Slam for the first time since SteffiGraf in 1988, before Italy’s Roberta Vinci stopped her in straight sets. This year, Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam wins in the Open Era was on the line, before Williams double-faulted on match point in the second set tiebreaker and lost to Pliskova 6-2, 7-6(5).