The German second seed got home 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 at Flushing Meadows in New York to add to the Australian Open title she won in January.

Kerber, the Olympic silver medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympics, knew she would rise to number one in the rankings when 10th seed Pliskova shocked US star Serena Williams in the last four.

But the Czech player, who had never been past the third round of a grand slam before this tournament, could not complete her fairytale run despite going 3-1 ahead in the deciding set.

"When I was a kid I was always dreaming to one day be the number one player in the world, to win grand slams," said Kerber, who hadn't won one of the four major tournaments before this year.

"And today is the day. 

"All the dreams came true this year."

"It's always tough to play against her [Pliskova].

"I was trying to stay in the moment, be aggressive, I was just trying to enjoy the final. 

"It's an amazing stadium."

In the day's other final, Britain's Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares won the men's doubles as they saw off Spanish pair Pablo Carreño Busta
and Guillermo García-López.

The 10th seeds won against their unseeded opponents 6-2, 6-3, also adding to a success at the Australian Open.earlier this year.

Jamie Murray, the brother of double Olympic and Wimbledon champion Andy, has now replicated his sibling's achievement of winning at Flushing Meadows. 

The men's final between Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic and Swiss player Stan Wawrinka will take place today.