The 28-year-old German -- who will rise from second to first in the rankings Monday, ahead of Serena Williams -- became the first female player other than Williams to win two majors in a season since Justine Henin in 2007. Indeed it has been a stellar year for Kerber, who opened her grand slam account at the Australian Open by defeating Williams, made the final at Wimbledon -- losing to Williams in a high-quality encounter -- and won silver at the Rio Olympics last month. When I was a kid, I was always dreaming to be the number one player in the world and to win Grand Slams, and today's the day." 1 and win grand slams," Kerber, a breakthrough artist at the US Open five years ago in reaching the semis, said during the trophy presentation. I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and I'm just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court." "Everything started here in 2011, and now I'm here in 2016 and I'm standing with the trophy, second grand slam trophy, and it means so much to me." Kerber won most of the big points in the first set-and-a-half against the tall, powerful Pliskova, who was appearing in a first grand slam final. But 11th-ranked Pliskova broke late in the second and then led 3-1 in the third. At 4-4 in the final set it came down to a test of nerve, and Kerber's was rock solid as she held impressively before Pliskova fell 0-40 behind and blazed a forehand wide on match point. She took time to reflect in her chair, weeping in joy, and later picked up a check for $3.5 million. @AngeliqueKerber is the first German woman to win the #usopen since Steffi Graf in 1996. pic.twitter.com/Bg2PyL105x — US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2016 The Czech had become the first player in six years to beat Serena and Venus Williams -- who own a combined 29 singles majors -- at the same tournament but was unable to overcome the counter-punching Kerber three weeks after downing the left-hander in Cincinnati. "I was just happy that I took it to a third set and even though I couldn't get the win I'm really proud of myself, the way I was playing in the last two weeks," said Pliskova. "Hopefully many more finals to come." Prior to this fortnight, the 24-year-old had never been beyond the fourth round at a major despite being an established player the previous two seasons. Media playback is not supported on this device US Open 2016: Winning tournament is incredible - Angelique Kerber

Pliskova said: "I found out I can play my best tennis on the big stages. The men's final will be decided Sunday, when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic plays No. 3 Stan Wawrinka; Women's Doubles Final: No.
In tennis, German Angelique Kerber defeats Czech Karolína Plíšková in three sets to win the 2016 US Open women's singles title.