New U.S. Open champion and world No. 1 Angelique Kerber took some time to enjoy her latest honors in New York City following her three-set win over Karolina Pliskova in Saturday afternoon’s final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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On Saturday, the No. 2-seeded Kerber trailed by a break at 3-1 in the third set before coming back against the 10th-seeded Pliskova, who hadn’t been past the third round at a major until this tournament.
Angelique Kerber arrived in her first US Open final blessed with the full understanding that she was more ready for a major title than she will ever be in her career.
Jubilant with her feat, the 28-year-old hailed the current year as the best of her career as she managed to win two Grand Slams in one year.
“I am even fitter now than earlier this year”, Kerber added.
“How I was dealing with the pressure when I came here and everybody was asking me about the number one, this is what I was trying to improve”, said Kerber, who was denied in her first bid to supplant Williams when she lost to Pliskova in the Cincinnati final before the US Open.
She made another final at Wimbledon, playing well but losing the rematch with Williams because, as Kerber put it, “Serena was the better player on this day”.
When Pliskovas final forehand sailed out, Kerber was launched on a joyous celebration, climbing into box where coach Torben Beltz was sitting then returning to the court where the tears flowed.
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.
With Kerber slightly in the driving seat, both players produced some commanding tennis on their own serves as the game headed towards the end of the first set.
Kerber went on to beat Karolina Pliskova in Saturday’s final for her second grand slam title of the season.
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.
In the first round there, she faced a match point in the second-set tiebreaker against the unseeded Misaki Doi of Japan and escaped only when Doi’s shot hit the tape and fell back on Doi’s side of the net.
“I had so much pressure after the title”.
Adding the US Open title to her Australian Open crown proved enough to dislodge Williams from a top spot she had held since February 2013.
Pliskova couldn’t maintain the advantage. Two errors gave a break back to Kerber in the sixth game.
The German levelled at 3-3 and then roared as a blistering forehand victor helped her move ahead once again.
“After that, everything starts this year”, Kerber said. “Trying to play my game”.
“I mean, definitely, I would say now that she deserves to be No. 1”, Pliskova said. “She is a great person and a great champion”, Kerber said. I knew it was going to be hard.
“Even though I couldn’t get the win, I’m still happy with the way I played the last three weeks”.
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“Hopefully many more finals to come”.
