Karolina Pliskova and Marin Cilic won respective titles at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sunday. First up, Pliskova upended No. 2 seed Angie Kerber 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and three minutes. Winning the biggest title of her career, Pliskova won 86 percent of his first serve points and broke Kerber’s serve on five occasions. Capturing her third win over Kerber in seven career meetings, Pliskova will now head into the US Open full of confidence.
Kerber, who was aiming to take over the No. 1 ranking in the world over Serena Williams, will head into New York as the No. 2 seed.
Over on the men’s side, former US Open winner Cilic captured his first-ever Masters 1000 title over top seed Andy Murray, dismissing the Brit 6-4, 7-5. In a match that lasted one hour and 34 minutes, Cilic continued his impeccable serving by winning 100 percent of his first serve points in the second set (16/16), while slamming home seven aces in total. Not defeating Murray since the 2014 event in Rotterdam, Cilic gained 910 points for his victory and will enter the top 10 at No. 9 when the latest rankings are released.
Murray, who hadn’t lost a match since the French Open final, also had his 22-match winning snapped on Sunday.
Both Cilic and Murray will next see action at the US Open in New York.
