Angelique Kerber wins her second Grand Slam title of the year in her third Major finals appearance of 2016.
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The second seed, made a spirited comeback after being a break down in the third set to beat the big serving 10th-seeded Czech 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Next, she showed heart and resilience in securing her first U.S. Open title by beating Karolina Pliskova in three sets. Andy has one, although also won Olympic gold. You could see her collect herself, dig deep, and dip into an nearly super-human well of energy as Pliskova started to flag in the heat and the humidity.
Kerber took advantage of Pliskova’s miscues to open the match with a break. But Pliskova made up for it in the final game, acing and eventually winning the set on an unforced error.
Kerber seized her chance with a forehand down the line to pocket the first frame in 44 minutes.
Pliskova began to get comfortable in the second set, however, and both women battled back and forth in each game. “Angie proved she is the number one, it was an honour to play her”.
Roberta Vinci, the U.S. Open runner-up in 2015, dropped from No. 8 to No. 15 on Monday after losing to Kerber in the quarterfinals last week. Karolina Pliskova (RCH) 4 425.7.
But she’s also facing a young and hungry group of challengers.
When they resumed, Djokovic earned three break points, but Wawrinka held for 4-1. Suddenly, the match was level at a set apiece, the same situation Kerber found herself in against Serena Williams at Melbourne Park seven-and-a-half months ago.
“I think Kerber set it up”, she said.
And now, Angelique Kerber has won two of the past four majors.
“I was thinking, OK, now I can even lose in the first or second round of the US Open, but I was able to take the game from Cincinnati here”.
She was not even fully convinced that she deserved her victory in Australia.
The youngster was unable to push forward, however, given that Kerber soon broke back and produced a vital hold of her own to make it 4-3 as the tension rose in NY. Its the best year of my career.
Kerber takes home the winners’ cheque for 3.5million U.S. dollars and becomes the first woman, other than Williams, to win two grand slams in a year since Justine Henin in 2007.
Having saved the first break point she faced in the second set, but unable to make inroads on Pliskova’s serve, Kerber was beginning to look demoralized by the power shots coming her way.
After Pliskova sailed a forehand wide on match point, Kerber fell to her back on the stadium court and then climbed into the stands to hug her coach, Torben Beltz.
“It’s just wonderful”, a beaming Kerber, told an adoring crowd after being handed the winner’s cheque of $3.5 million.
Clearly this bit of self-motivation worked for Kerber when one of those very critical moments presented itself during the final set. Angelique has won 11 ITF titles in singels and 3 in doubles. Despite this semifinal loss in the USA open, one can not overlook her dominance over the past decade.
Pliskova said that Kerber being left-handed was also a key factor in the way the final played out.
“I felt this was one of the biggest things, when you know you can run forever on court and you’re not anxious that you can play three sets”. Because she is a tough opponent and she goes for it whenever she has a chance. “I just have to go for my shots”.
“I’m really surprised, actually, that I really try to stay positive… that I’m always fighting”. She was always my idol and I told her that so many times. “When I won the point, I knew, ‘OK, I have the feeling'”.
“I’m really excited because I’m seeing as well a lot of new and good players on tour”. I have to be the one who is aggressive. I’m getting used to everything that’s happened around me right now.
Even though I couldnt get the win, Im still happy with the way I played the last three weeks.
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“I’m not talking about No. 1”, she said. “This year everything came together”.
