Karolina Pliskova suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Angelique Kerber in the US Open women’s singles final on Saturday, but the Czech 10th seed also proved her mettle as one of the most risky attacking players in women’s tennis. I won my second grand slam in one year.
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Entering the U.S. Open final on Saturday, Angelique Kerber had already wrested the No. 1 ranking in the world from Serena Williams.
“All my dreams came true today and I’m just trying to enjoy the moment”, Kerber said after the match. But 11th-ranked Pliskova broke late in the second and then led 3-1 in the third. The arena roared: they wanted more and they got it. Pliskova served out the set, 6-4.
Pliskova’s booming serve is one of her greatest strengths – the Czech’s tournament tally of 44 aces here was bettered only by Serena Williams (65) – though she also serves more than her share of double faults. She had just lost control of the US Open final, making unexpected errors that allowed first-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova a service break. She will treat her team to dinner, have some champagne, too, she said, and then – after a whirlwind media tour of Manhattan on Monday – fly to Germany and take a few minutes on the plane to let it soak in: She is tennis’ top player right now, no questions asked. “I think this is really important for your confidence”.
She began 2016 by defeating Williams in the Australian Open final in January, she reached the Wimbledon final in July, won an Olympic Silver medal in August and won her second major Saturday.
“You have the pressure that she’s gonna ace you four times in a game, but you still have to be aggressive and hit winners, otherwise I can not be the one who is running with her”, said Pliskova.
There were plenty of lengthy exchanges in that first set, and Kerber tended to get the better of them, winning 9 of 14 points that lasted at least 10 strokes. “She was always my idol and I told her so many times”. Angelique is also the oldest player in the history of the WTA rankings to become No. 1 for the first time. From 4-4 in the third set, Kerber won the final eight points of the match. That’s the best year of my career…
“In the second set, my body language was not the best”.
“No, I was always believing in myself”, she said. Now, it seemed, she was translating quarter and semi runs with finals and titles.
After 4-4 in the final set, Kerber’s rock solid performance helped her the match. At 1-1, Pliskova erred on a forehand on break point and came up empty when holding a 15-30 advantage on the Kerber serve at 2-2. She artfully moved the spidery 6-foot-1 Czech player around the court, consistently working her into more untenable positions. Despite being long on promise, Pliskova had fallen short on the Grand Slam stage, never reaching past the first week of a major in 17 previous appearances. Advertisement On Thursday, Williams faced Pliskova as she stepped closer to capturing her 23rd grand slam singles titles.
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When it was over – after Pliskova’s last shot sailed well beyond the baseline, after Kerber crumpled to the court overcome with emotion before dusting herself off and climbing into her family box and hugging her coach, Torben Beltz – she was back at her seat courtside with her head buried in a towel.
