The German, now 28, defeated 10th seed Karolina Pliskova, who had conquered both Williams sisters en route to the final, in three sets to claim her second Grand Slam title to go with the maiden title she won at the Australian Open in January.
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With Kerber closing in on a straight-sets victory, Pliskova finally made a breakthrough sailing a reflex lob over the second seed that landed on the line to secure her first break in five chances and a 4-3 lead.
Kerber is the first German to win the US Open since Steffi Graf in 1996.
“In the second set my body language was not the best and I was trying to change it in the third”, Kerber said.
Kerber’s jump to World number one, knocks Serena Williams off the top spot. Adding the championship at Flushing Meadows was further proof that all of the changes Kerber has made are paying off. But her entire career was built on her ability to react; using her compact strokes, her vast leg strength and her incredible ability on-the-run to seamlessly flip defence to offence. She reached the finals of Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics, and then, significantly, emerged runner-up to Pliskova in Cincinnati. Her defense is exemplary, scrambling along the baseline to put her racket on seemingly every ball, crouching so low that her knees would come close to scraping the ground.
“Yeah, when I won the point I knew, Okay, I have the feeling”, said Kerber of the forehand. She is the oldest first-time number one in the history of women’s tennis, she is nearly certain to see her name indelibly scribbled into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and from earning her millions as one of the nameless top 10 players beneath the stars, her name will forever be interchangeable with the 2016 season. Kerber, on the other hand, was more efficient, hitting 21 winners and only 17 unforced errors – 30 fewer than Pliskova.
“She has more experience to play those finals than me so that probably decided this match”, Pliskova said.
“I was trying to stay in the moment, be aggressive, I was just trying to enjoy the final”.
Make no mistake, Pliskova is a serious keeper.
The new number one’s readiness was further apparent when she burst into the opening half hour of the final, breaking Pliskova’s serve in the first game and piecing together nearly the flawless set of tennis.
Kerber, sensing an opening, stepped up the pressure and pace getting triple break point at 5-4 and closed out the contest on the first match point.
But Pliskova hung in there.
Pliskova said she felt no sadness in defeat. Suddenly up 4-3 in the set, Pliskova turned to her coach up in the stands and yelled, pumping her fists. Eight months later brought her to world No 1.
“In the second set, I found some power”, Pliskova said. “It didn’t happen, but this is the way I have to play”. She had never been past the third round at a major.
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But this was Kerber’s turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-all and again to end it.
