US Open 2016 Day 11: Angelique Kerber Beats Caroline Wozniacki To Become No. 1, Serena Falls In Semifinal

Angelique Kerber reached her third major final of the year on Thursday after beating Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, and became the tournament’s No. 1-seed.

US Open 2016 Day 11: Angelique Kerber Beats Caroline Wozniacki To Become No. 1, Serena Falls In Semifinal

At 28, Kerber is the oldest woman to reach No. 1 for the first time, and is the first German to do so since her idol and mentor, Steffi Graf.  

She will now face 10th-ranked Czech Karolina Pliskova in Saturday’s final. Pliskova saw off former top-seed Serena Williams 6-2 7-6 (7-5) in Thursday’s other semifinal.

At the beginning of 2016, Kerber had never reached a Grand Slam final. Now, she could end the year as a two-time major champion.

In January, she advanced to the Australian Open final and defeated Williams. Kerber also played for the championship at Wimbledon; however, she lost to Williams. Kerber also lost the Cincinnati Open final to Pliskova on Aug. 21.

Kerber would have overtaken Williams for the top seed had she beaten Pliskova in that match. Instead, Pliskova won that title and has been enjoying the momentum ever since.

“After that, I was just telling myself, ‘OK, I will get one more chance,’ ” Kerber said. “Now after I can relax a little bit and try to enjoy this special night today.”

The German added she tried hard not to think about her potential climb in the rankings if she won.

“I’m growing and I’m not putting the pressure on my shoulders if something like this happens,” she said.

On match point, Kerber fired a backhand that seemed to be heading long, and Wozniacki was going to let it go until she realized the ball may have tipped the baseline. She swung too late and sent the ball flying out to end the mach, and didn’t challenge the call.

“I got a few texts, but that just made me feel worse,” Wozniacki, 26, said. “But at the end of the day, I don’t think [challenging] it would have made a difference.”

Typically content to play defensively, Wozniacki found herself attempting to force the issue and committed an uncharacteristic 26 unforced errors.

A two-time runner-up at Flushing Meadows, she entered this year’s tournament ranked 74th in the world after missing 2 1/2 months due to an ankle injury. She was seeking to become the lowest-ranked women’s finalist at the US Open, other than an unranked Kim Clijsters (from Belgium) in 2009.

“Probably people ruled me out, but it’s nice to prove people wrong once again,” Wozniacki said.

The Danish star declined to answer a question regarding reports that her father told the media she could retire in the next year or two.

Before her semifinal loss to Pliskova, Williams, 34, had been No. 1 for 186 straight weeks.

The American told reporters post-match on Thursday that she was dealing with a left-knee injury.

After serving impeccably through the quarterfinals, Williams committed five aces and six double faults Thursday. Williams had averaged 12 aces per match in the tournament prior to the last four and struck 18 against Halep.