Kerber’s 2016 season built on the momentum she started gaining previous year. “It was my first final”.
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Kerber said the enormity of winning her second slam of the year and attaining world number one would probably not sink in until a quiet moment after she boarded her flight home.
The 24-year-old Czech broke Kerber’s service early in the third set, but the German managed to return the favour, breaking Pliskova to tie it up at 3-3 and then push on through for the win down the stretch.
Kerber’s jump to World number one, knocks Serena Williams off the top spot.
The German, who also won the Australian Open in January, will also be the oldest player to debut at world number one when her place atop the summit is made official on Monday.
Pliskova, who had never made it past the third round of a Grand Slam in 17 prior attempts, also beat Venus Williams en route to the title match, becoming just the fourth player to beat both Williams sisters in the same Grand Slam. Pliskova looked in good control, and won the set 4-6, taking the finals to a decider. She had a bad start to 2015 and fell out of the top 10 for the first time in two years. But one knows that one way or the other she is playing tennis like never before and at her age, she has the maturity to make every experience count.
She had already had a taste of the raised expectations as she edged closer to toppling Serena Williams from the summit. Men’s Doubles Final: Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3 to win their second Grand Slam title of the year.
CAN we now say that Angelique Kerber is presently sports’ happiest person?
Angelique Kerber climaxed a dream season at the U.S. Open on Saturday, performing as the champion she has become through hard work, patience and a love of the game.
“It’s just incredible what I did this year”. Pliskova served out the second set – the only one dropped by Kerber all tournament – and spiked a ball.
The match started with some nerves for Pliskova who was broken in the very first game. Kerber is a player who has more or less established herself as the player to watch out for many years to come.
It was his first NY title, following his breakthrough 2014 Australian Open triumph and 2015 Roland Garros crown.
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Karolina Pliskova vowed not to turn her back on her all-or-nothing game despite it falling short in her three-set defeat to Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s US Open final. And after frittering away her first four break points of the match, she converted her fifth with a lob-volley victor that curled over Kerber and alit right by the baseline. The Top-10 experienced more changes, since the Czech Karolina Pliskova, flaming finalist in NY, reached the sixth position, and Spaniard Carla Suárez, the eighth.
