Serena Williams into semis of the us open 2016!

Serena Williams  taking on No. 10 seed Karolina Pliskova, while the second half of the twi-night doubleheader showcases the clash between second-seeded Angelique Kerber and the unseeded Caroline Wozniacki.

At the start of this event, 128 names filled the lines of the women’s draw; Thursday night the deal is two pair. As the days of this tournament narrow, so does the margin for error. Intensity is the order of the evening.

There are few more intense competitors in tennis – or any sport – than Williams, who already has made history here and is in hot pursuit of more. Her quarterfinal win over Yaroslava Shvedova was the 308th Grand Slam tournament match win of her career, the most of any player in the history of tennis. Now at 309, she’s building momentum toward inscribing her name on even more pages of the record book. If Williams can win this event, she will have 23 career Slam singles crowns, breaking the tie she now holds with Steffi Graf for most in the Open era. A seventh US Open crown also would nudge her past Chris Evert for most all-time.

Williams’ smooth advance to this point hit a bit of a speed bump in Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Simona Halep, as the game’s No. 1 experienced a bit of a walkabout in the second set, making an uncharacteristic 25 unforced errors in dropping her first set of the tournament. But as the greats do, Williams regrouped and again found her form, closing out the 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win to gain her ninth consecutive Grand Slam semifinal and the 33rd major semifinal of her career. At 34, Williams is the oldest player remaining in the draw. But proof that age is only a number is backed up by this number: Williams has won nine majors since turning 30, by far the best post-30 performance by a woman in the Open era. What’s more, her 89-10 record in Flushing also is best among active players.

Conversely, Pliskova is into the US Open semifinals for the first time in her career; her run to this round representing her best-career Slam showing. Prior to this event, the 24-year-old Czech had the dubious honor of being the only Top 20 player never to reach the fourth round at a major. Now, she’s the first Czech to appear in the US Open semis since Jana Novotna in 1998