Kerber, 28, beat Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in a thrilling match in her third Grand Slam final this year, two days after unseating Serena Williams as the world’s top seed.
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Kerber, 28, had never reached a slam final before 2016 but won the Australian Open, reached the final of Wimbledon and now marks her ascension to the world no.1 spot with victory in NY.
In the end, her 47 unforced errors – a effect of her big-hitting approach – compared to Kerber’s meagre 17 proved her undoing.
The win has cemented Kerber’s place at the top of the World Rankings for the first time in her career.
If Williams can overcome a knee injury, the 22-time major champion could reclaim top spot this autumn given she has very few ranking points to defend after hardly featuring at the end of past year.
Sure, she can. She’s still capable of being the most dominant force in women’s tennis for several more years. “I don’t know. I think I will show a few videos my childrens in a few years, and just, yeah, I don’t know, just tell them, you know, everybody – just believe in yourself and do what you really love”. Pliskova, the first Czech woman in the US Open final since Helena Sukova in 1993, had defeated both Serena and Venus Williams to reach the final. Because I was a lot of hours on the practice courts, sweating and everything, and you are just playing for this moment to being on the centre court in the final and with the fantastic crowd. “It’s always tough to play them”.
Tennis’ new No. 1 is not Serena, not the player that has been around for 20 years and won 22 majors and is a sporting and cultural icon.
Serena Williams has played only eight tournaments, too few, and it remains unsure whether she will bother turning up for the year-end WTA Championships in Singapore next month. The five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova has been sidelined on a two-year doping ban. Kerber got broken early in the third and bounced her racket off the court.
Afterward, Kerber thought back to her greatest weakness when she was a teenager aspiring to Grand Slam titles and No. 1 rankings: “My fitness was the worst”, she said, laughing.
Early in what would become a tight test of a U.S. Open final, Angelique Kerber sprinted forward to somehow reach a drop shot and scoop a down-the-line victor that landed in a corner of the court.
“Of course, now everybody will try to beat me and have nothing to lose”, Kerber said. Or even at the beginning of the 2016 Australian Open, when she faced match point in the first round and nearly flamed out.
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However, with a good run in the ongoing US Open, the German gave herself another chance to become the best. And after frittering away her first four break points, she converted her fifth with a lob-volley victor that curled over Kerber and alit right by the baseline. I knew that I have the game to beat the best players and just being patient and working really hard.
