Kerber reaches third slam final of 2016

Angelique Kerber has reached her first US Open final following a clinical defeat of Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday night in New York.

The new world No.1 beat Wozniacki 6-4 6-3 to progress to her third major final of 2016 – she won the Australian Open and fell in the Wimbledon final.

Both of those results came against Serena Williams, but this time around she will face Karolina Pliskova, who stunned Williams in the first semifinal earlier on Thursday night.

> READ MORE: Pliskova stuns Serena to reach first Grand Slam final

That result meant Williams will surrender the No.1 ranking – which she has held for 186 consecutive weeks – to Kerber come Monday.

Pliskova beat Kerber in their previous meeting, just a few weeks ago in the Cincinnati final.

“It’s just incredible. It’s a great day,” Kerber said after the win. “I know that Caroline is a great player and it’s always tough to play against her.

“To be the No.1 in the world, that’s amazing. I think Steffi [Graf] will be proud of me to be the next No.1 after her.

“I was watching the other semifinal a little bit, but at the end I was trying not to focus on that match and not think about it.

“To be here and play again on Saturday – that’s amazing.”

> READ MORE: Kerber to become new world No.1

Despite knowing about the rankings milestone before she walked out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium, Kerber did not let it affect her.

She romped to a 4-0 lead over the Dane with relentlessly aggressive play.

In a match between two players more noted for their defensive abilities, Wozniacki too committed to a higher level of aggression, and was rewarded when she closed the gap to 5-4.

But Kerber steadied, closing out the set and building a 5-1 lead in the second.

Then it was time for another Wozniacki comeback – she at one stage won nine straight points, breaking Kerber to love when the German served for the match leading 5-2 and holding a game point for 4-5.

Kerber, however, saved that with some magnificent retrieving to force an error, and a couple of points later sealed victory on her first match point.

Despite the loss, it was an impressive fortnight for Wozniacki, who arrived in New York ranked No.74 and progressed to her first major semifinal in two years.

“Obviously Angie is playing well. She’s getting a lot of balls back. I thought I was dictating a lot of the game. I was trying to press and stay close to the line,” Wozniacki said.

“A few of the balls I went a little bit too much on and made these small mistakes. But today I had to do that. I had to go for my shots. Unfortunately I came up a little short, but I have got to be proud of the way I kept going, and I just kept fighting for every point.”