Angelique Kerber stays cool for US Open final against Karolina Pliskova
Sunday 11 September 2016 00:37, UK
Angelique Kerber might be favourite to win the US Open but the new world No 1 insists says she can cope with the added pressure in Saturday's final with Karolina Pliskova.
Kerber will take to court at Flushing Meadows in New York knowing she will replace Serena Williams at the top of the rankings regardless of the outcome.
The 28-year-old, however, is expected to cap her new crown with a second Grand Slam title, to back up her maiden triumph at the Australian Open in January.
She is playing her third major final this year, after losing to Williams at the last hurdle at Wimbledon, and an opponent who had previously never gone past the third round of a major.
Kerber, once renowned for crumbling under the weight of expectation but eased past Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-final, said: "It was not so easy to go on court because I knew before I started that if Serena lost of course that I will be the No 1 .
"It was not easy mentally but I was trying to not put too much pressure on myself. That shows me also that I think I'm growing and I'm not putting the pressure on my shoulders if something like this happens.
"I can go out there focusing on my game. That gives me also a lot of confidence with the situation, how I dealt with it against Caroline."
Pliskova may be the underdog but she is also the player in form, having out-gunned Williams to seal her 11th win in a row.
The 24-year-old obliterated Williams with her deadly serve and knows what it takes to beat Kerber too, having conquered the baseline battler to win the title in Cincinnati last month.
Kerber blamed Olympics fatigue for that defeat and is confident she can put things right.
"I remember the Cincinnati final. I was actually really tired because I came from Rio and I had a lot of tough matches there," Kerber added.
"Here I have one day off so I can really prepare for the final against Pliskova. I know how she is playing. I know she has a big serve.
"I think I will go out there trying to get my next chance against her and take the revenge of course."
Pliskova has certainly proved her mettle here, having also knocked out Venus Williams in the fourth round, but previously her success had largely come at tournaments away from the Grand Slams.
The world no 11, winner of six WTA titles but has only reached three major third rounds in 17 attempts, said: "Everyone was still saying to me, 'you can win a Grand Slam' and I was like, 'yeah, maybe. Not now. I'm not ready for it yet'.
"But I knew it's somewhere in me that I can really play good tennis on those bigger stages so I believed, and it just happened.
"Definitely it was about those last two, three weeks that I have played here. It gave me a lot of confidence, and that's what tennis is all about.
"If you believe in yourself you can beat anyone. Especially in girls tennis it's not only about a game and tennis, but it's more about the mental things sometimes. So I really believe now that I can beat good players and actually all of the players now."
