Kerber takes U.S. Open title with win over Pliskova

Angelique Kerber won her first U.S. Open title and the second Grand Slam trophy of her breakthrough season, beating Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday.

The No. 2-seeded Kerber trailed by a break at 3-1 in the third set before taking five of the last six games against a fading Pliskova, who was seeded 10th and hadn't been past the third round at a major until this tournament.

The left-handed Kerber already was assured of making her debut at No. 1 in the WTA rankings on Monday, ending Serena Williams' record-tying 186-week stay at the top.

Never a Grand Slam finalist before 2016, the German beat Williams for the Australian Open title in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.

They seemed to be on course for a third meeting in the final at Flushing Meadows, but Pliskova eliminated Williams in the semifinals, after beating her sister, Venus, in the fourth round.

Kerber lost to Pliskova the last time they met, just three weeks ago in the final of a hard-court tournament in Cincinnati. But at the outset of this final, it was Kerber who was in charge. Her defense is exemplary, scrambling along the baseline to put her racket on seemingly every ball, crouching so low that her knees would come close to scraping the ground.

As she does against most opponents, Kerber would make Pliskova swing two, three, four extra times to try to end a point. And Pliskova was troubled by that in the early going, making 17 unforced errors in the first set alone, 14 more than Kerber.

Kerber won the toss and elected to receive, perhaps for two reasons: Her serve is the biggest question mark in her otherwise solid game, and it made sense to force Pliskova to deal with an early test of nerves. Either way, the decision worked: Pliskova double-faulted on the match's first point and got broken right from the get-go.

There were plenty of lengthy exchanges in that first set, and Kerber tended to get the better of them, winning 9 of 14 points that lasted at least 10 strokes. On one that went 15 shots, Pliskova tried a drop shot that Kerber sprinted to reach before scooping a down-the-line forehand winner to a corner.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd roared, and Kerber celebrated by raising her right hand and wagging her index finger in the air, as if to remind Pliskova — and the world — "I'm No. 1!"

But Pliskova hung in there. And after frittering away her first four break points of the match, she converted her fifth with a lob-volley winner that curled over Kerber and alit right by the baseline. Suddenly up 4-3 in the set, Pliskova turned to her coach up in the stands and yelled, pumping her fists.

Now it was a match, and as they went to the third set, both women began showing more and more emotion. Pliskova served out the second set and spiked a ball. Kerber got broken early in the third and bounced her racket off the court. Moments later, the German trailed 3-1.

But this was Kerber's turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-all and again to end it.

Canadian seeks boys' title

Canadian teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime will play for a boys' singles Grand Slam title for the second time this season.

The 16-year-old from Montreal edged the top-ranked junior player in the world, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to earn a place in Sunday's final. Auger-Aliassime, ranked ninth and seeded sixth in New York, was a runner-up at Rolland Garros in June.

Auger-Aliassime fired nine aces and had 32 winners to defeat the 18-year-old Tsitsipas in one hour 45 minutes.

The Canadian was down 4-1 in the second set but broke Tsitsipas to cut the deficit to 4-3, letting out an emphatic roar when his

opponent's backhand volley went long to give him the point.

Auger-Aliassime broke Tsitsipas again to go up 6-5 and easily won the next game to take the match.

It's been a successful year for Auger-Aliassime, who won the boys' doubles title at Flushing Meadows with partner Denis Shapovalov last summer -- the first all-Canadian pair to win a Grand Slam junior tournament in 25 years. The duo also finished second in this year's Wimbledon doubles final.

Auger-Aliassime competed in the boys' doubles final later Saturday with 17-year-old partner Benjamin Sigouin of Vancouver.

Murray, Soares win doubles final

Jamie Murray of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil won the doubles championship Saturday for their second Grand Slam title this year, beating Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3.

The No. 4-seeded Murray and Soares, who won the Australian Open in January, dropped only one service game and won 71 per cent of first-serve points against their unseeded opponents.

They are the first winners of multiple major men's doubles titles in a season since Bob and Mike Bryan won three in 2013. Murray and Soares only teamed up late last year.

Murray says he's accomplished something his more famous brother, Andy, has not: two Grand Slam titles in a year.

Murray and Soares reached the final after taking out the top-seeded team, defending champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.