The match opened with Kerber breaking a jittery Pliskova and ended the same way. “She’s improved. She doesn’t just play defense anymore, she plays aggressively”, said Mary Joe Fernandez, the United States Fed Cup Captain.
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She beat Kerber in decisive fashion three weeks ago in the Cincinnati final.
Wawrinka then put on a dominating performance in the second set, taking a 4-1 lead after slicing a forehand victor past Djokovic.
“It’s actually just incredible because everything starts here 2011 (when she lost in the semifinals) and now I’m here 2016, five years later, and I’m standing here with a second Grand Slam trophy and it means everything to me. Not even during the match”, the 24-year-old said.
Kerber had won the opening set 6-3. Karolina Pliskova (RCH) 4 425.7. Pliskova then won the next service game to take a 5-3 lead in the set, before failing to break Kerber and allowing her to trim it to 5-4.
The match ran 2 hours, 7 minutes with Kerber holding a narrow 97-90 margin in points.
“Being there as champion, this year, to hold this trophy, I can’t say it in words”, said Kerber, who added the US Open crown to the Australian Open title she claimed in January.
Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova finished the final frame tied on the second serves. That would unfortunately be his only point, as Djokovic capitalized on Wawrinka’s errors to win the tiebreaker and first set.
The 10th-seeded Pliskova had never even been to the round of 16 at a major before she blew past that milestone at the U.S. Open.
Kerber’s 2016 season built on the momentum she started gaining past year.
She came into the tournament ranked 92nd, never having advanced past the third around at a major.
Newly crowned US Open women’s champion Angelique Kerber can be hailed as the reigning queen of women’s tennis.
“I’m ready to have this pressure on my shoulder, because I think I get used to all of this, especially after my first Grand Slam in Australia”, said Kerber.
The German was back on top of her game with a hold for 4-3, running for a stinging forehand victor to the corner for game point that fully restored her morale.
The German athlete had a stellar performance at the U.S. Open, winning her second of two grand slams this year, becoming the first German woman to win the U.S. Open since 1996, and identifying her as an emerging athlete to watch in the sport.
With two grand slam titles in 2016, Kerber has posed stiff challenges to Serena in the recent past.
After Pliskova sailed a forehand wide on match point, Kerber fell to her back on the stadium court and then climbed into the stands to hug her coach, Torben Beltz. I was just being patient and was working really hard.
While she starts embarking on what is hoped to be a long stint at the top of the WTA rankings, the race to finish the year on top will go down to the wire in the final two months of the season.
Going forward, it’s clear Angelique Kerber is the one to beat in women’s tennis.
In the end, when Pliskova upset Williams in the semifinals, Kerber was guaranteed to be No. 1 when the next rankings come out Monday. But after she lost the first set, something curious happened.
Pliskova said she felt no sadness in defeat. For now, though, let’s appreciate the awesome year that Angelique Kerber has had to get to #1.
“I’m not gonna think about losing, I could be the victor today”. “I think she’s going to win more and break Steffi’s record, but it’s going to get tougher. But exactly what it will be I do not know yet”, the new queen of world tennis stated with a beaming smile. I am at the top, number one.
“This is awesome. I came here without the goal of winning it but just to step on the court trying to win”.
I found out I can play against the best players in the world on the big courts, Pliskova added.
“This is when everything comes together one day”.
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The youngster was unable to push forward, however, given that Kerber soon broke back and produced a vital hold of her own to make it 4-3 as the tension rose in NY.
