Angelique Kerber, of Germany, kisses the champions trophy after defeating Karolina Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, during the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Angelique Kerber, of Germany, kisses the champions trophy after defeating Karolina Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, during the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York — When the Grand Slam tennis year began last January, Angelique Kerber was a top-10 regular who might drop by now and then for a quarterfinal or semifinal. When it ended Saturday evening at Arthur Ashe Stadium, they might have had her exit on a throne just for effect.

When Kerber proved fittest in a high-quality, two hour seven minute final with Grand Slam final debutante Karolina Pliskova, and when Kerber dug out of a 3-1, third-set deficit to win 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, she added to her fresh batch of newfound distinctions. She became a U.S. Open champion, a two-time Grand Slam champion and the first woman without the surname “Williams” to win two Grand Slams in a season since Justine Henin in 2007.

Kerber will take all of that and all her heavy hardware to Monday, when the rankings computer will kick in and list her at No. 1, making her the oldest player — at 28 — to arrive there for the first time. In her post-match, on-court remarks, she made frequent use of the adjectives “amazing” and “incredible.”

“When I was a kid, I was always dreaming to be one day the number one player in the world, and to win Grand Slams,” she said, soon adding, “All the dreams came true this year.”

The German who had “been around a really long time,” as Williams put it in admiring Kerber after their Australian Open final in January, Kerber began the year at No. 10, a typical spot as she had dwelled on the top page for much of five years. She won the Australian Open and reached a taut Wimbledon final with Serena Williams. Through the months, she became a solid, considerable No. 2 behind Williams.

When she won her first 12 sets at this U.S. Open and got to her third Grand Slam final in nine months, she came across an onrushing player in Pliskova. Only the most learned tennis intellectuals knew all that much about Pliskova as of Aug. 15, when she began the tour stop in Cincinnati.

Twenty-six days and 11 uninterrupted wins later, she barged into a decisive set with Kerber, looking ready to take over the world at age 24. Already she had beaten five top 10 players in those 11 matches, including Kerber in the Cincinnati final. She had beaten both world-renowned Williams sisters here, including Venus Williams after facing a fourth-round match point and Serena Williams in a straight-set semifinal. As the aggressor who won 28 of 38 net points (to 3-for-6 for Kerber), Pliskova hit well more winners than Kerber — it ended 40-21 — and made well more errors, which ended 47-17.

Five of those errors mattered most.

Two came while serving at 3-2, with a forehand up the line driven wide and a backhand up the line driven wide, taking her from deuce to her first broken service since the first set.

The other three errors came from love-15 in the closing game, and they included a tired, short-ball backhand smashed startlingly into the net. She had an opponent who knew the way through a Grand Slam final third set, with Kerber having weathered one in Australia with Serena Williams, the hardest test the sport can offer in this era.

So when Pliskova’s final forehand blew long, Kerber wound up splaying on the court yet again, having won the final eight points of the match, plus a whole lot else.