Angelique Kerber, the southpaw from Germany, won her first U.S. Open Saturday, two days after officially clinching the No. 1 computer ranking, perhaps finally signifying a changing of the guard in women’s tennis.
Advertisement
Now she has won two Major titles, defeating Serena Williams to win the Australian Open in January and then winning in NY by knocking out Pliskova, who defeated both Serena and Venus Williams on her way to the final.
Kerber was appearing in her third Grand Slam final of 2016, and the German played with the authority of a world number one in waiting.
“I was always dreaming of one day being number one and to be in the Grand Slams”, she said. “All the dreams came true this year and I’m just trying to enjoy every moment on court and off court”.
For Pliskova, it was her first Grand Slam final.
However, Pliskova hung in 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 fell right by the baseline to lead 4-3 as she forced a final set.
The momentum was with Pliskova, who broke Kerber in the third game of the deciding set and then went 3-1 up.
Pliskova double-faulted on the match’s first point and got broken from the start, making 17 unforced errors in the first set alone, 14 more than Kerber. She took time to reflect in her chair, weeping in joy, and later picked up a check for $3.5 million.
Kerber won the first set and looked like she would roll to an easy win.
She dwelled on the positives, though. Hopefully there will be many more finals to come.
Prior to this fortnight, the 24-year-old had never been beyond the fourth round at a major despite being an established player the previous two seasons. “I’ll be No 1 on Monday and now I’ve won my second Grand Slam here”. She had hit two exhausted forehands – one in the net and one long during that game.
The match opened with Kerber breaking a jittery Pliskova and ended the same way.
Pliskova, meanwhile, had fully settled on serve, holding easily.
In the end, Kerber’s experience probably made the difference in the German’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory, Pliskova said.
Her rocket to the baseline on the next point left Kerber helpless and the match was level at two sets apiece.
Kerber had won the opening set 6-3.
Kerber recovered from a break down in the third set, pouncing on her wilting opponent with two breaks in the third set to end a compelling, high-quality battle of attrition that stretched for two hours and seven minutes.
Kerber trailed 0-30, got to 30-30, then executed a high-risk forehand down the line.
Pliskova beat Kerber in the final at Cincinnati almost three weeks ago for a breakthrough title for the 24-year-old Czech, and she’s been riding that momentum ever since.
Unfortunately for Pliskova – always outwardly calm on court – she couldn’t handle the pressure of serving to stay in the contest.
Advertisement
The men’s final will be decided Sunday, when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic plays No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. It promises to be dramatic, too, since four of their past five duels at majors have gone five sets.
