Top 10 Stories from the 2016 U.S. Open

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 10: Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic celebrates with the second place trophy after losing to Angelique Kerber of Germany during their Women’s Singles Final Match (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

4. Karolina Pliskova’s Run to the Final

To knowledgeable tennis fans, Karolina Pliskova wasn’t an unknown name coming into this U.S. Open. She’d been up and coming for the past couple of years. She’d even just won her first Masters title, which is the highest success one can get outside the slams. It was just a matter of when everyone else would learn about her.

These two weeks were when she truly announced herself as arrived on the scene. Getting to the final of the U.S. Open is one way to do that, yes. But it isn’t even the only thing she did. In order to get there, she arrived via beating *both* Williams sisters, even winning a 6-2 set against Serena; like Serena she’s a harder hitter, and she knows how to use that. She came one set short of going straight from up and comer to slam winner. She even went up a break in the final set. Ultimately that didn’t happen this time, but she was still half of a very well-played slam final. If she keeps on playing the way she played these past two weeks, she certainly will win a slam sooner or later.

Next: Angelique Kerber Ends As She Begins