Kerber wins 1st set of US Open final vs Pliskova

The loss meant American Serena will have to relinquish her top rank to German Angelique Kerber who reached the title round beating Dane Caroline Wozniacki.

The No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world, Serena Williams, faced a stunning upset after she was bested by rising sensation Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic at the U.S. Open Thursday.

Kerber is the first German to make the US Open final since Steffi Graf beat Monica Seles here in 1996 and also the first from her country since Graf to become world number one.

By The Associated Press Jamie Murray of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil won the U.S. Open doubles championship Saturday for their second Grand Slam title this year, beating Spaniards Pablo.

Pliskova served out to even the match, the first time the entire tournament that Kerber had dropped a set.

“Even when she was down a set and break she was still fighting”. “I was trying to not think too much the whole last few weeks about this, and now I reach it”.

All in all, it’s been quite a special 2016 for Kerber.

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.

Never a Grand Slam finalist before 2016, Kerber beat Williams for the Australian Open title in January, then was the runner-up to her at Wimbledon in July.

“She gets a lot of balls back”.

Karolina Pliskova says she wasn’t at all nervous during her first Grand Slam final. She gets good angles. Until a couple of years ago, Angie, as she is known, focused nearly exclusively on tennis.

“You know, it’s not a lot of people who have been No. 1”.

Picking up the $3.5 million winners cheque, the new world number one said, “It’s just incredible”.

She was vague on when the injury occurred, suggesting it was in the second or third round last week.

By now the towering Czech, beginning to wilt in the punishing conditions, bent over her racket at the end of every point.

Pliskova, who arrived at Flushing Meadows with the reputation of grand slam under-achiever having never before been beyond the third round of the major, shed that label by making it all the way to the final and taking on back-to-back world number ones. I hope I don’t stop yet, that there is still one more step to go. “I fought all I could and just came up a bit short”.

“I was ready for anything”.

“I was really trying to (stay) in the moment”, Kerber said, “trying to play my game, being aggressive”.

The match offers an intriguing contrast in styles.

Kerber is seeded No. 2, but already is assured of overtaking Serena Williams at No. 1 in the rankings on Monday, regardless of the outcome of the final.

Williams sparked into life, finally breaking Pliskova’s serve – to love – but the anticipated comeback was cut short in the tie-break.

The 5-foot-8 Kerber, meanwhile, is terrific at retrieving and counter-punching, dropping down to a knee at times along the baseline to get balls back. Williams, coming off a tough three-set match the night before, made 11 unforced errors in the set. Kerber acknowledged that aspect of her game will be key on Saturday.

It was the 33rd major semifinal of Williams’ career and the first for Pliskova, who beat Williams’ sister Venus in the fourth round. But her heart, she said in an interview, “beats for Germany”. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

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