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New No.1 Angelique Kerber reaches US Open final

The 24-year-old Czech Karolina Pliskova upset No.1 seeded Serena Williams in the US Open semifinals 6-2, 7-6 (5) here on Thursday.

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Angelique Kerber has moved into the world number one position in the WTA rankings after she registered a straight-sets win over Caroline Wozniacki in the last four of the US Open.

Meanwhile, Pliskova will not play the final on Saturday and it will interest to see whether she will be able to handle the pressure of being the finalist or not. Well, if Serena isolates herself in the same manner she did a year ago and decide not to play until next season, Kerber has a chance to establish a foundation at the top. “I wasn’t at 100 per cent, but she deserved to win”.

Commenting on her status as the new top-seeded women’s tennis player, Kerber said: “It’s just incredible, it’s a great day”.

She’s just the fifth player to reach her first three Grand Slam finals in one year.

“For me, it’s just awesome to be, after Steffi, the next number one player in Germany”.

Kerber beat two-time U.S. Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3 and will ascend to the No. 1 ranking Monday.

Speaking after the game, Serena congratulated Pliskova for her victory.

Perhaps Wednesday’s exertions – she played a grueling encounter against Simona Halep – took a toll on Williams. She knows how to change the pace. I wasn’t exhausted. Fatigue had absolutely nothing to do with it.

“So many simple, simple shots that I easily could’ve made and I just blame that on mentally thinking about my leg and just not thinking about the shot”. “I wasn’t exhausted from yesterday’s (Wednesday) match”, said Serena.

Williams, shrugging off questions about the ranking, said she wasn’t sure what her schedule was for the rest of the year. I’m really happy to be there and even have the chance to play in the final here. “Now after I can relax a little bit and try and enjoy this special night today”, Kerber added.

The world number 11 had never gone past the third round of a major tournament before but she simply outplayed Williams at her own game, with power, aggression and a blistering serve. It doesn’t happen often that you- “re in the final of Grand Slams”.

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It is the second consecutive year that Williams has crashed out of the U.S. tournament at the semifinal stage in surprise circumstances, after Roberta Vinci beat her in 2015.

No fairy-tale finish for Woz