The world’s second-ranked player wasted a chance to end Serena Williams’ long run at the top.
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The final step up to No. 1 was simply too big for Angelique Kerber – this time, anyway. Williams has led the WTA rankings for 183 consecutive weeks, the second-longest such stretch.
Kerber hardly moved when Pliskova ended it with a 115 miles per hour ace down the middle. Williams will enter NY under a cloud of uncertainty after pulling out of Cincinnati with an injured shoulder, the same setback that seemed to affect her in Rio.
On the men’s side, Andy Murray also ran out of steam in the title match. “I think you deserve to be No. 1”, she added. Now, there’s no avoiding it. “It was for sure not the best tennis I played, but for the day today, everything was fine”. Forehand. Backhand. There was not one thing what I would change in this match. This year it will be the American on the defense, with a little more than a week to get healthy and fight off the first legitimate claim to her top-of-the-hill status in years.
Pliskova is the first from her country to win the Cincinnati title.
Halep was on a hot streak, winning back-to-back titles at Bucharest and Montreal. She broke Kerber to open the match and won 17 of the first 24 points with shots that were right on the line in windy conditions. Williams ascended to No. 1 – for the sixth time – in February 2013. She was well aware of the stakes on Sunday.
She said, after the match: “It’s the biggest final what I’ve ever played, but obviously I played few”. I lost twice and I was really close to win both of them, so I knew I’m really close this time again. I remember my match past year against Azarenka where I played really good.
“I’m always learning from the tournaments and finals what I’ve played”.
In the men’s bracket, Murray beat Milo Raonic 6-3, 6-3, also overcoming a brief rain delay in the first set. He’s won his last 22 matches, a career best. And he appeared fresher on Saturday after pulling through a draining summer of success.
After beating Raonic for his second Wimbledon title and getting another Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, he came to Cincinnati worn out. He developed a bad head cold and had a stiff back that limited his movement during the quarterfinals. She finished with seven aces and five breaks of Kerber.
“I’m going there to play good tennis again”.
“I will try to take the positive things from the match and from the last few weeks actually to going to NY then”. This week has been hard for me, coming from Rio.
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Cilic didn’t allow Murray to take another point as he served out to win the match. That’s why we play tennis. Novak Djokovic and defending champion Roger Federer skipped the tournament because of injuries, and Rafael Nadal was beaten early as he works back from a two-month wrist injury.
