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New women’s No. 1 Angelique Kerber has Open title in reach

Williams had been hoping to secure a record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title this week but she never looked comfortable before falling to a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) defeat.

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A year ago, Williams’ bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam ended when she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals to unseeded Roberta Vinci of Italy in the semifinals.

Kerber and Pliskova spent less than 90 minutes on court in their semifinal but Pliskova’s effort against Serena took a far greater toll.

“Now after I can relax a little bit and try to enjoy this special night today”, she added. The World # 11 would upset the World #1 to win the US Open 2016. She is the first German since Steffi Graf to have the No. 1 ranking. The Danish player posed no threat to Kerber, who sailed through with a 6-4, 6-3 win.

Pliskova, who for the first time has progressed beyond the third round at the US Open, had enormous control in her semi-final against Serena Williams, but it is unlikely she will be able to hold her own against the firepower of Angelique Kerber.

It’s a battle of second seed against tenth seed tonight as the mammoth force called Angelique Kerber takes on Karolina Pliskova at the finals of the US Open in 2016.

“I knew I had the chance to beat anyone if I played my game”. “I was actually really exhausted because I came from Rio and I had a lot of tough matches there”.

To say that Angelique Kerber has been in brilliant form would be an understatement. Ranked at 122 in the world, she’s thousands of miles away playing at the Dalian Open in China where she’s made the semi-finals. “I was trying to not think too much the whole last few weeks about this, and now I reach it”.

That’s not an accusation easily levelled at her opponent in Saturday’s women’s singles final, Karolina Pliskova. She’s familiar with the rhythms and routines leading up to a major final and the nerves that are natural for the occasion.

“Obviously, the match with Venus helped me. not only with the game, but also with the crowd”, Pliskova said.

“I know that I can do this, I’m practicing it a lot”.

The German was only truly taxed in one match, her quarter-final against Spanish ace Carla Suarez-Navarro. She told WTA Insider that she struggled to get to bed on Friday night, still reeling over her big win, and she admitted that beating Serena meant more to her than making the US Open final.

“I will go out there trying … to take the revenge, of course”. For one who reached so many finals, Pliskova’s inability to channel that momentum into major victories was puzzling at best, worrying at worst. The two last met at the finals of the Cincinnati Masters prior to the US Open – and this time, it was Pliskova who not only won, but did so in straight sets.

Murray and Soares, the Australian Open champs, posted a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the top-seeded team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who won Wimbledon this year after taking their first Grand Slam title in 2015 at Flushing Meadows.

The only other women to beat the two Williams siblings at one major were Martina Hingis at the 2001 Australian Open, Justine Henin at the 2007 U.S. Open, and Kim Clijsters at the 2009 U.S. Open.

“Probably people ruled me out, but it’s nice to prove people wrong once again”, Wozniacki said.

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Williams didn’t even get there.

Angelique Kerber reacts after beating Caroline Wozniacki