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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She defeated No. 10 seed? Williams could reclaim that top spot if she plays this fall, but that is not a certainty. She certainly deserves it a lot.
Always in the shadow of her compatriot, Steffi Graf, who had dominated the women’s game so well three decades ago, Kerber is being viewed as a crop of exciting ladies who are emerging as a new transition force in women’s tennis. “Melbourne was different as it was my first grand slam”.
The amusing thing, though, she did it differently than most.
The late-blooming German becomes only the second woman to win her first two major championships after turning 28.
This year, Kerber, no spring chicken at 28, beat Williams in the Australian Open final.
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.
Roberta Vinci, the US Open runner-up in 2015, dropped from No.8 to No.15 on Monday after losing to Kerber in the quarterfinals last week.
“To me, the biggest surprise was Serena lost the two finals at slams and then a semi-final”. Kerber was on the verge of being swept out of the tournament in straight sets in the first round against 64th-ranked Misaki Doi.
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. “So there is a whole bunch of stuff going on, but the younger generation is definitely coming up”. “It’s always tough to play them”. “Great to see some other girls winning the title, not only the same person”.
Asked what she might pass on to her children one day about achieving their dreams, Kerber said.
Serena said a left knee injury sustained in the second round of the Open – that she apparently aggravated during her quarterfinal win over Simona Halep – hampered her mobility in the semis.
“For sure, when I was growing up, Steffi was my idol”, Kerber said, “and this is also special that she is German”. Wawrinka and Kerber were serviceable players who were of course good, and could be counted on to get through the first week, maybe as far as a quarterfinal, at best semifinal of a grand slam.
“I’m starting to move out of the shadows a little bit”, said Jamie.
“I was just believing in myself in the third set and going for it”.
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Pliskova, who survived a match point en route to a fourth-round victory over Venus Williams, was almost betrayed by her nerves as up 3-0 in the tiebreaker she produced three errors, including a double fault.
