The final match of the WTA Premier event Bank of the West Classic, featuring Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova, was not exactly a serving clinic. With 18 breaks of serve over the three sets, neither player won over 50 percent of points off their serves. The two tall, hard-hitting Europeans were both bothered by some sort of physical issues in the match, which was one free of shrieking, excessive fist-pumping and exclamations of "Come on!". In the end of the two hours and seven minutes, it was the German player taking the match on her second match point, before sharing a warm hug with her opponent. 

Serving woes doom Pliskova in opening set

The match was competitive from the very first game, with Pliskova, who was serving first, going too big on a backhand shot down the the outside line and sending it wide at 40-30 to tie the game at deuce. At this point the Czech  was in control, dictating with both winners and errors. After several minutes, it was Kerber who won the game on her third break point opportunity when the Czech hit a double fault.

The next games brought Kerber holding easily for 2-0, Pliskova fighting to get on the board for 2-1, and then Pliskova breaking back at love for 2-2. This was followed by two more holds of serve. Kerber then took control of the set, breaking, holding and breaking to lead 6-3 after one, having converted on three of her seven break point opportunities. The 23-year-old was simply not winning enough points off her serve, which was at 52 percent for the first serve and 31 percent for the second, compared to 64 percent and 83 percent for the 27-year-old German. 

Pliskova forces a decider

The second set began with a pair of breaks, with Pliskova taking game one, and Kerber answering in game two. The two players then held to bring the game to 2-2, which is when things got really interesting, or hard to watch, if you are a fan of high quality serving. The Czech number three (behind Kvitova and Safarova) rallied from 15-40 down in the fifth game of the second set to break, starting a string of seven straight breaks of serve.

It was in the midst of this serving fiasco, tied at 4-4, that Pliskova showed signs of injury, calling for the trainer on a changeover and not seeming to want to run at all as she broke for 5-4. This break was followed by the player taking a medical timeout, having tweaked her ankle at three-all.

Despite this, she finally managed to end the endless breaking serve, holding up 6-5 to take the second set and extend the match. Kerber showed signs of frustration during the set, having an animated conversation with her coach in German. She also allowed her serving level to drop off, winning only 36 percent of total serve points over the course of the set.

Kerber nabs decider to one-up her result last year and take Stanford crown

The third set got interesting after Pliskova broke for a 2-1 lead, with Kerber grabbing her legs repeatedly, leading to injury speculation, before breaking back for two-all. Following this were two more breaks of serve, until Kerber managed to hold for a 4-3 lead in the deciding set. Both players held again, leading to Pliskova serving to stay in the match at 4-5. After a couple of deuces, the younger player sent a ball into the net to give the match to the 27-year-old. 

Though Kerber looked exhausted for much of the last hour of the match, she was able to hold on with clean play and strong defense. Pliskova went for broke the entire match, finishing with and impressive 52 winners, but also a startling 52 unforced errors. By contrast, the German had only 27 winner, but also only 14 unforced errors. The result of her victory will be a move three spots up the world ranking to number 11. Fan reactions to the win for the German were mixed. 

Absolutely no idea how Kerber won that match. She looked absolutely spent during the last hour of that match. 4th title of the year.

— René Denfeld (@Renestance) August 9, 2015

Angie Kerber playing so much better during the past 4 months, doesnt panic, d Pliscova 63 57 64 at Stanford. If serve improves, Slam 1 day?

— Matt Cronin (@TennisReporters) August 9, 2015