A fantastic year: Twitter congratulates Kerber on US Open win, World No 1

Germany’s Angelique Kerber defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the US Open on Saturday and claim her second Grand Slam title.

Germany’s Angelique Kerber defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to win the US Open on Saturday and claim her second Grand Slam title.

Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber pose with their trophies during the post-match presentation ceremony. (Reuters)

The win capped off a remarkable year for the German, who was ranked 11 last year and had a 6-4 win-loss record at the four Grand Slams.

This year, she broke through at the Australian Open, defeating Serena Williams for her first major title. A first-round exit at the French Open was followed by a runner-up finish to Serena at Wimbledon. She then went on to win silver at the Rio Olympics before her title run at Flushing Meadows.

Kerber became the first German to win the US Open since 1996, as well as the first woman since Martina Hingis in 1997 to win the Australian Open and US Open in the same year.

Kerber will officially replace Serena as the new World No. 1 on Monday after Pliskova’s win over the American in the semifinals ensured Kerber’s place at the top, regardless of the result in the final.

Kerber’s win had several famous tennis players, current and former, as well as several athletes from other sports, congratulating her on Twitter. Oh, and she put out a celebratory tweet herself.