The 28-year-old German – who will rise from second to first in the rankings Monday, ahead of Serena Williams – became the first female player other than Williams to win two majors in a season since Justine Henin in 2007. From 4-4 in the third set, Kerber won the final eight points of the match.
Advertisement
“That was always a dream for me”, the No. 2-seeded Kerber said after beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 in the semifinals Thursday night, when 10th-seeded Pliskova upset Williams 6-2, 7-6 (5). “Now especially with the win against Serena”. Additionally, Karolina also has Mars and Venus in conjunction, which is an extraordinary placement found in the strongest of sports players.
“But at the end I know how I was playing in Cincinnati”. “I was just pushing too much the balls there, so I will think I will change this a little bit”.
“I will go out there trying to get my next chance against her and take the revenge”, she said.
Never a Grand Slam finalist before 2016, the German beat Williams for the Australian Open title in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.
Kerber, who is taking over the No. 1 ranking for the first time, is in her third major final of the year, while this is the first of Pliskova’s career. The last to do it was Martina Hingis in 1997.
Pliskova is still riding the wave of momentum her Cincinnati triumph over Kerber sparked.
“I had to wait”, Wawrinka said in an on-court interview after the match, per David Waldstein of the New York Times. 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 alit right by the baseline.
“We played a lot of times”, Pliskova said. She won the Olympics silver medal and was crowned world No 1. “I’d say, “I’m not ready for it yet, because obviously I didn’t get that far in a tournament yet”.
There are, however, some key differences, including that the earlier one was at a run-of-the-mill event and the upcoming one is at a Grand Slam tournament. She averaged 109 miles per hour on her first serves Thursday – faster than the younger Williams, known for the best serve in the women’s game – and leads the tour in aces this year.
Advertisement
For Pliskova, it was her first Grand Slam final.
