US Open 2016: Angelique Kerber crowns wonderful season with second Grand Slam title

The German beat the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4

Kerber celebrates with the US Open trophy after her victory over Pliskova (Getty)

A wonderful year for Angelique Kerber became even more memorable as the 28-year-old German claimed her second Grand Slam title of the season by winning the US Open. Kerber, who had never reached a Grand Slam final until this year’s Australian Open, beat the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 here with a vivid demonstration of the great athleticism and consistent ball-striking that have taken her to the top of the world rankings.

Kerber, who will become the oldest woman in history to lead the rankings for the first time when she replaces Serena Williams as world No 1 on Monday, had been a relatively low-profile member of the world’s top 10 until the start of this year, but has turned her career around. She will be only the second German woman to lead the rankings after her childhood idol, Steffi Graf, who was on top for a total of 377 weeks.

“All my dreams came true this year,” Kerber said afterwards. “When I was a kid I was always dreaming of being No 1 in the world and winning Grand Slams. I’ll be No 1 on Monday and now I’ve won my second Grand Slam here.”

Having beaten Williams in her first final in Melbourne, Kerber lost to the American in the Wimbledon final and was no doubt grateful to Pliskova for removing her from the tournament here in the semi-finals.

Pliskova had arrived in New York as the only woman in the world’s top 20 who had never gone beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament but conceded just one set route to the final, in the fourth round against Venus Williams, who also had a match point against her. Martina Hingis, Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters are the only players other than Pliskova who have beaten both Williams sisters at the same Grand Slam tournament.

The first Czech woman to reach the final here since Helena Sukova lost to Graf in 1993, Pliskova was bidding to become only the third player ranked outside the world’s top 10 – after Clijsters in 2009 and Flavia Pennetta in 2015 – to win the title.

The Czech’s game is all about natural power. The world No 11, who will climb to No 6 on Monday, is a big hitter who strikes the ball with great fluency on both flanks. She also moves around the court with more ease than you might expect from a player who stands 6ft 1in tall.

Pliskova’s booming serve is one of her greatest strengths – the Czech’s tournament tally of 44 aces here was bettered only by Serena Williams (65) – though she also serves more than her share of double faults. Pliskova made four in the final, which took her tournament total to 27, more than any other woman.

It was one of the best US Open finals of recent years, but Pliskova, who had beaten Kerber for the loss of only four games in the Cincinnati final last month, paid for a poor start in the opening set.

After going 15-40 down in the opening game the Czech saved the first break point with an ace but put a poor attempt at a drop shot wide on the second. When Pliskova served at 3-5 and 30-30, a double fault took Kerber to set point, which the German took with a forehand winner down the line.

Pliskova, nevertheless, kept going for her shots and regularly threatened Kerber’s serve in the second set. At 3-3 she broke for the first time with a winning lob after a thrilling exchange and two games later served out for the set. An ace took the Czech to set point and a missed forehand by Kerber completed the job.

The momentum was with Pliskova, who broke Kerber in the third game of the deciding set and then went 3-1 up. Kerber, however, is made of stern stuff and gritted her teeth. The German levelled at 3-3 and then went 5-4 up before Pliskova finally cracked.

When the Czech served to stay in the match Kerber hit a forehand winner down the line on the first point before Pliskova made three successive errors. After hitting a backhand wide and then putting what should have been a simple backhand into the net, Pliskova missed a forehand on the first match point.

Although it was a disappointing way for the Czech’s tournament to end, she was able to put the defeat in perspective. “It was a great match,” she said afterwards. “I found out that I can play my best tennis on one of the biggest stages.”