Pliskova wins Cincy, ends Kerber’s No.1 bid

The final step up to No. 1 was simply too big for Angelique Kerber – this time, anyway.

The world’s second-ranked player wasted a chance to end Serena Williams’ long run at the top. She dropped behind at the outset, repeatedly missed routine shots and fell to Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match Sunday at Cincinnati’s Western & Southern Open.

Williams will be ranked No. 1 for the 184th consecutive week, two shy of Steffi Graf’s WTA-record run that ended in 1997. And Kerber will remain right behind after her frustrating performance Sunday, hoping for another chance.

”Everybody’s talking about that,” Kerber said. ”If someday it happens, it happens, but I will not be making too much pressure on this. I’ve had such a great year so far and it’s not over yet.”

Williams, the two-time defending champion in Cincinnati, missed the tournament because of a sore shoulder, giving Kerber the opening to move ahead of her by winning the title. She was tired at the end of three hectic weeks that included an Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro.

”I’m really tired, to be honest,” said Kerber, who also reached the semifinals in Montreal. ”It was a lot of pressure and a lot of matches I had in the last three weeks, a lot of travel around the world, actually.”

It was the biggest win of Pliskova’s career, the 24-year-old Czech’s first title in a premier tournament. She broke Kerber to open the match and won 17 of the first 24 points with shots that were right on the line in windy conditions. Pliskova had only six unforced errors during the 62-minute match.

Asked how she was going to get the winner’s trophy home, Pliskova said she hadn’t even considered it.

”I was expecting I’m going to play good, but I wasn’t expecting it that easy,” Pliskova said. ”I think she might be a little bit tired, or she felt a little bit of pressure on herself.”

By contrast, Kerber appeared to lose confidence as it went along. After sailing a shot long, she made a circle motion with her hands, imitating the swirling wind. She finished with 15 unforced errors.

Kerber hardly moved when Pliskova ended it with a 115 mph ace down the middle. Pliskova took a few steps toward the net, stopped, clenched both fists and closed her eyes for a moment, letting it soak in.

Kerber badly wanted to win the Cincinnati tournament for the first time and join Graf as the only German women to be ranked No. 1 in the world. At age 28, she would be the oldest woman to reach the top of the WTA rankings for the first time.