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By Chris Oddo | Sunday August 21, 2016

 
Karolina Pliskova

Karolina Pliskova claimed a career-best title and kept Angelique Kerber from climbing to the top of the WTA rankings with a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the Cincinnati final.

Photo Source: Getty Images

Karolina Pliskova notched the biggest title of her career and stopped Angelique Kerber from reaching a colossal rankings milestone on Sunday at the Western and Southern Open.

Halep: Kerber Inspires but Serena is Top Teacher

The 24-year-old Czech won her first Premier 5 title and claimed back-to-back back-to-back victories over Top 5 opposition with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Kerber, who struggled with form and consistency throughout the 62-minute final.

Kerber committed twice as many unforced errors as winners and fell behind 4-0 in the opener and 3-0 in the second set. The 28-year-old German was bidding to become the WTA’s 22nd No. 1-ranked player, but appeared to be worn out at the end of a busy two weeks that saw her reach the final at the Rio Olympic Games and here in Cincinnati.

Instead it was Pliskova who took the opportunity to shine on a big stage and ran with it. Long on power and promise but short on Grand Slam pedigree, Pliskova played like a been-there-done-that veteran, responding to late surges in each set with calm, cool and collected tennis.

She was highly effective on serve, hitting seven aces and winning 24 of 28 first-serve points. More important, she held her own from the backcourt, winning many of the protracted rallies and committing just 16 unforced errors against 24 winners.

“I've beaten a good player this week so I could be able to win a Grand Slam but I don't think I'm ready for this challenge yet,” Pliskova she said after the final in an ESPN interview. “I didn't pass third round yet so that's my first goal."

After the final Pliskova hurried to the crowd to seek out her coach, Jiri Vanek, and the rest of her team for a group hug. She is the first Czech to win the prestigious Cincinnati title, and will rise six spots in the rankings to No. 11 in the world as a result of the title.

So it will be Serena Williams who retains the WTA’s No. 1 ranking for the 184th consecutive week on Monday. The American will tie Steffi Graf’s all-time record for consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the second week of the Open.

During the awards ceremony Pliskova tried to console Kerber about the missed opportunity. “I think you deserve to be No. 1, but maybe next time,” she said. Kerber didn’t quite know how to react to that.

The German falls to 9-14 lifetime in finals, while Pliskova improves to 6-9.

 

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