The German levelled at 3-3 and then went 5-4 up before Pliskova finally cracked. Kerber also won the Australian Open in January.
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“I think it seems to be the right time for her”, said Beltz, her coach.
“You have the pressure that she’s gonna ace you four times in a game, but you still have to be aggressive and hit winners, otherwise I can not be the one who is running with her”, said Pliskova.
On Saturday, the No. 2-seeded Kerber trailed by a break at 3-1 in the third set before coming back against Pliskova, a 24-year-old Czech who was seeded 10th and hadn’t been past the third round at a major until this tournament.
Angelique Kerber won her first-ever U.S. Open title.
But this was Kerber’s turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-3 and then once again to seal the victory.
When Serena Williams’ dramatic loss to Karolina Pliskova on Thursday ensured that she would complete her childhood dream of ascending to number one, she all but shrugged as she strutted on court 10 minutes later and laid waste to Caroline Wozniacki to reach the final. The runner-up, who lost the final eight points of the match, said nerves had no impact on her at any stage during the final.
In the second set, Pliskova earned a break in the seventh game when she hit a lovely lob victor to go ahead 4-3.
“It’s just wonderful”, a beaming Kerber, told an adoring crowd after being handed the winner’s cheque of $3.5 million. Now look at her.
At 28, Kerber isn’t exactly a new face in tennis.
Pliskova arrived in the final on the back of an 11-match winning streak and also having beaten Kerber in the final at Cincinnati last month. “I won my second Grand Slam of the year and it’s the best year of my career”. Already guaranteed to become No 1 for the first time next week, Kerber will rise to the top spot as a first-time US Open champion, too.
Kerber still remembers how she saved the match point – with a serve out wide that forced Doi to miss a forehand.
Kerber said improving her fitness laid the foundation.
Pliskova was the first player to take a set off Kerber at Flushing Meadows.
Kerber was at her counterpunching best against the powerful Pliskova, who wilted late in the third set under hot, humid conditions. Williams beat Kerber for the title at Wimbledon.
Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova are playing for the U.S. Open championship. Either way, the decision worked: Pliskova double-faulted on the match’s first point and got broken from the get-go. 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. “I was losing a lot of first-round matches in 2011”.
Kerber and Graf have become friends in recent years and they spent some time practising together in Las Vegas at the end of last season.
They dropped only one service game and won 71 percent of first-serve points against their unseeded opponents. But it was interesting to watch – just in a different way than Williams’ extraordinary run to three of the four Slam titles past year.
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“It’s a great feeling”, Murray said in his post-match interview when reminded he’s accomplished something his more famous younger brother, Andy, has not by winning two major titles this year.
