Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares win US Open doubles title

Murray and Soares, who have never before played their finals opponent, are vying to become the first winners of multiple major titles in a season since Bob and Mike Bryan won all but the U.S. Open in 2013. So will a 23rd Grand Slam championship, another record.

On losing the number one ranking.

Kerber, who beat Williams in the Australian Open final and lost to her in the Wimbledon final, will meet Pliskova in tomorrow’s final in Arthur Ashe Stadium after beating Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 in the other semi-final.

“Karolina played great”, Williams said.

“I watched especially the last few points”, she said of Pliskova´s two-set triumph over Williams.

“For me, it’s just awesome to be after Steffi the next No 1 player in Germany”, added Kerber, who at 28 will become the oldest player to become No 1.

But Kerber is still smarting from Pliskova’s upset win over her last month in the final at Cincinnati, a defeat she wants to avenge on one of the game’s biggest stages.

It will be Pliskova’s first appearance in a Grand Slam final while Australian Open champion Kerber will be in her third of the year having finished runner-up to Williams at Wimbledon.

“I don’t care”, Pliskova said. “I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and I’m just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court”.

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.

In the fourth round Pliskova beat Williams’ sister, Venus, after saving a match point.

“I was watching the match a little bit before I came here but I was trying to focus on this match, not the match before”, Kerber said.

Pliskova got in just 53 percent of her first serves, and Kerber was all over her second serves, winning 71 percent of those points. She swung too late and sent the ball sailing out to end the match instead of challenging the call. She moved smoothly around the court, timed her ground strokes beautifully and played a smart game, nearly invariably choosing the right shot at the right time.

While Kerber beat last year’s U.S. Open runner-up, seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci, and two-time Wimbledon victor Petra Kvitova en route to the Open final, Pliskova’s road has been tougher.

She remains tied with Steffi Graf for both Grand Slam titles, and the WTA record of 186 successive weeks as world number one.

While Williams’s serve has always been reckoned the most powerful weapon in women’s tennis, 11th-ranked Pliskova came into the contest boasting a tour-leading 439 aces.

“For sure, she has a lot of confidence. I know what to change”, Kerber said.

Kerber, the 28-year-old left-hander, is the first German woman to reach the final since Steffi Graf in 1996.

Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova are playing for the U.S. Open championship.

The temperature was in the low 80s, and the air was muggy, and Williams kept using the pleats of her black-and-pink skirt to wipe her sweaty palms between points. Pliskova made 17 unforced errors to three for Kerber. “You saw even when she was down a break she’s still fighting so it’s very hard”.

He said she spent far less time than usual warming up for the match, after getting treatment much of the day. When you’re injured you’re thinking of other things when you should be just playing and thinking of your shots.

Kerber’s stellar defense put pressure on Pliskova to go after big shots, and the 24-year-old Czech made just enough errors to decide that match.