DHAKA: Angelique Kerber beat Karolina Pliskova in a thriller, 6-3 4-6 6-4, to win the US Open and claim her second grand slam title of 2016.

She already assured of the No. 1 ranking, reports the CNN.

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.

“All the dreams came true this year and I am just trying to enjoy every moment on court and off court”, she added

“Everything started here in 2011, and now I am here in 2016 and I am standing with the trophy, second grand slam trophy, and it means so much to me.”

Kerber won 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.

Kerber broke back for 3-3 before the ace leader on the women’s tour -- who has a tennis playing twin sister -- cracked at 4-5, getting broken to love in a flood of errors.

Kerber fell to the court on a first match point when Pliskova’s forehand -- which was inconsistent throughout -- sailed both wide and long. She took time to reflect in her chair, weeping in joy, and later picked up a check for $3.5 million.

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.

Kerber trailed 0-30, got to 30-30, then executed a high-risk forehand down the line. She celebrated, sensing it was a momentum changer.

BDST: 0946 HRS, SEP 11, 2016
BD