NEW YORK --?Early in what would become a tight test of a U.S. Open final, Angelique Kerber sprinted forward to somehow reach a drop shot and scoop a down-the-line 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 opponent Karolina Pliskova _ and everyone else _ Im No. 1!Yes, she is. And a two-time Grand Slam champion, too.Kerber won her first U.S. Open title and the second major trophy of her out-of-nowhere breakthrough season, taking five of the last six games to beat a fading Pliskova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 on Saturday.It means a lot to me. When I was a kid, I was always dreaming to one day be the No. 1 player in the world, to win Grand Slams, said Kerber, a 28-year-old German who will move up one spot from No. 2 and replace Serena Williams atop the WTA rankings on Monday. I mean, all the dreams came true this year, and Im just trying to enjoy every moment on court and also off court.Never a Grand Slam finalist before 2016, Kerber beat Williams for the Australian Open title in January, then lost to her in the Wimbledon final in July.On Saturday, the No. 2-seeded Kerber trailed by a break at 3-1 in the third set before coming back against Pliskova, a 24-year-old Czech who was seeded 10th and hadnt been past the third round at a major until this tournament.For sure, Kerber told Pliskova during the trophy ceremony, you have a great future.The present could not be brighter for the left-handed Kerber, the first woman from Germany to win the U.S. Open _ and to get to No. 1 _ since her idol and mentor, Steffi Graf.It was Pliskova who guaranteed Kerbers ascension in the rankings by beating Williams in the semifinals, ending her record-tying 186-week stay at the top, which began in February 2013.Kerber, who collected $3.5 million in prize money Saturday, 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. By the conclusion of the 2-hour, 7-minute final, Pliskova totaled 47 unforced errors, 30 more than Kerber.I was really trying to (stay) in the moment, Kerber said, trying to play my game, being aggressive.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 matchs 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.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, filled with terrific points, tense moments and plenty of emotion. Pliskova served out the second set _ the only one dropped by Kerber all tournament _ and spiked a ball. Kerber got broken early in the third and bounced her racket off the court. Moments later, she trailed 3-1.But this was Kerbers turn to show some mettle, breaking back to 3-all and again to end it. She dropped on her back after the last point, then climbed into the stands to begin the celebration with her coach and others.She really proved shes the world No. 1, Pliskova told the fans. Then she addressed Kerber directly, saying: It was a great match, and Im very honored to play with you. Avalanche Jerseys 2021 . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Avalanche Jerseys 2020 . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . -- Ty Montgomery had 290 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, and fifth-ranked Stanford held on to beat No. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Custom Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. LAS VEGAS -- TCU coach Jamie Dixon has so much versatility with his group this season, he may have several different starting lineups.That flexibility is paying off as sophomore reserve guard Alex Robinson scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Horned Frogs to a 93-80 victory over Washington in the Global Sports Classic on Saturday night at UNLVs Thomas & Mack Center.We have guys we dont think of as bench, but more guys, said Dixon whose team outscored Washingtons reserves 48-18. Depth is a strength. I didnt anticipate it when I took the job. Were having fun. (The players) have bought in. They committed and theyve sacrificed.Karviar Shepherd added 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting both from the field and free-throw line for TCU (6-0), which shot 53 percent from the field and never trailed. Vladimir Brodziansky contributed 12 points, Kenrich Williams had 11 and Jaylen Fisher 10 for the Horned Frogs.This is the first of two consecutive games between the teams that are from different Power 5 conferences. They play Wednesday at TCU.Its a blessing to be playing this well early in the season and to be part of this, Robinson said. We have full confidence in ourselves. We feel we come out and beat anybody. Our coach gives confidence. We just rally behind him with our energy.Washingtons Markelle Fultz finished with 27 points, but fouled out with seven minutes left. Fultz, who is averaging 23 points per game, went 8 of 13 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line.He was on his way to 40, said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar, who was coaching his 650th career game. He got going. When he ggets going, hes something.ddddddddddddNoah Dickerson and David Crisp had 14 points apiece for Washington (4-2).In the second half, Washington cut the lead to 39-35, and later to 54-52, before the Horned Frogs put it away with a 19-6 run.TCUS FAST STARTThe Horned Frogs started the game with a 19-4 run spanning the first seven and a half minutes of the game.I dont think there is any question we came out flat and they came out with great energy, Romar said. Thats a bad combination for the team that comes out flat. We got down and we should have been down.TCU expanded the lead to 26-10, its largest margin, with 8:06 until halftime. Then, the Huskies defense started forcing turnovers and trimmed the TCU lead to 35-31 before the Horned Frogs scored the last four points of the half. Faultz ended with 16 points before intermission.FREE THROWSTCU from the line went 26 of 33 (79 percent). However, three of those misses were on one trip by Robinson, who failed on all his attempts with 13:23 left after being fouled on a 3-point attempt from the left corner. Robinson finished 4 of 6 from the foul line.(After) coach said, `find your target, Robinson said. It got me going. We really rally behind our coaches.The Huskies from the line finished 19 of 23 (82 percent).UP NEXTBoth teams play each other again on Wednesday at TCU. This will be the second game of a home-and-home series from 2015-16 season. The Huskies won the previous affair in December a year ago in Seattle, 92-67. ' ' '