Angelique Kerber won her first ever US Open title and second major of her career after beating Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the final at Flushing Meadows early on Sunday IST. The German, who will rise to the top of the women's singles rankings on Monday, powered her way to sealing the deal in the final set, after coming from behind.
The big-serving Pliskova was under pressure in the first set and made plenty of unforced errors. It was all one-way traffic as Kerber, after breaking the Czech in the first game of the match, set the tempo. Pliskova did make an attempt to break Kerber's serve, but there were simply too many errors that the 10th seed made as she was broken for a second time in the first set, and went on to lose it.
However, Pliskova made a remarkable comeback in the second set with her powerful serves leaving Kerber struggling. Such was the power that the Czech got behind her serves, that it appeared they had begun to psychologically affect Kerber, who was broken in the set and went on to lose it. It was the first time the German had lost a set in the tournament.
Pliskova had the momentum going into the final set. It was sheer force of will that took Kerber over the line towards the end. Trailing in the set after being broken early, Kerber's baseline play and a couple of volleys she milked out helped her spark a late comeback. Her attacking the net stood out as she went on to break Pliskova twice and clinched her second Grand Slam title of the year.
Kerber had won the Australian Open earlier this year after beating Serena Williams in the final. She thus became the first woman to win both hard-court majors in the same year since Martina Hingis in 1997.
Corrections and clarifications: This story has been edited to remove an error that misstated that Kerber was the oldest woman to win the US Open for the first time.