Angelique Kerber would have inherited the No1 ranking from Serena Williams yesterday even if she had lost Saturday’s US Open final. And when she fell behind a break early in the third and deciding set at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it seemed as it if she would do just that.
Instead Kerber did what No1 players do. She conjured her best when it mattered most and tapped into reserves of energy and will as a determined opponent in the form of her career wilted in the oppressive New York humidity. She played astonishingly clean tennis while extending the rallies to expose Karolina Pliskova’s average movement, winning 24 of the last 34 points and broke Pliskova twice to seal a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory for her second grand slam title of the year after her Australian Open breakthrough.
The late-blooming German becomes only the second woman to win her first two major championships after turning 28. She is the world No1 on merit.
“I knew that I have the game to beat the best players if I was just patient and worked really hard,” said Kerber, who becomes only the second woman from Germany to win a US Open title in the tournament’s 136-year history after the five-times winner Steffi Graf. “And now to see that the work pays off, this is actually the best feeling. Because I was a lot of hours on the practice courts, sweating and everything, and you are just playing for this moment to being on the centre court in the final and with the amazing crowd. So this is what I was always dreaming for.”
Serena Williams made it to the first three grand slam finals of the season, winning a seventh Wimbledon title before losing in the semifinals here. But she turns 35 this month and a decline is inevitable. The five-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova has been sidelined on a two-year doping ban. Victoria Azarenka, a winner of two major titles, is pregnant and taking a leave of absence. Garbine Muguruza, who looked like a world beater after her Roland Garros breakthrough, crashed out at Wimbledon and the US Open. The next wave of players, including Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska, Madison Keys, Eugenie Bouchard, have yet to break through for a major title.
That leaves Kerber, the oldest player to make her debut at No1, as the woman to beat. It has been quite a turnaround for a player who did not play into the second week at any of the four grand slams last year. Kerber recommitted herself to her fitness and developed power – particularly on the forehand side – that elevated her game beyond garden-variety counterpunching.
“I was really trying to improve a lot of things. First of all my fitness and then to being more aggressive and go for it when I have the chance,” she said. “I really tried to play more intensely in practice and not play like maybe two, three hours just like that. I just go to court and spend a lot of hours as well on gym, or just make a lot of sprints and movement. That’s what I changed, especially in the pre-season.”
Those dividends paid off royally in Saturday’s third-set pressure cooker. And by not backing into the top ranking – by taking it on merit with a stirring performance on Saturday afternoon in Queens – she’s validated her place atop the table.
“I think I’m ready to have this pressure on my shoulder, because I think I get used to all of this, especially after my first grand slam in Australia,” Kerber said.
“I had so much pressure after the title. And to being No1, of course now everybody will try to beat me and have nothing to lose. I will try to take this challenge, because it will be a little bit new situation for me. But at the end, I was always practicing and working hard to be No1. Now I can also take the next step and try to stay as long as I can there.”