STANFORD, CALIF. — Second time’s a charm for Angelique Kerber. A year after falling short against Serena Williams in the Bank of the West Classic final, the German took the next step, downing rising Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to claim the 2015 title at the Taube Family Tennis Center.

Kerber, ranked No. 14, became the first German to win the Premier-level event since Bettina Bunge prevailed in an all-German final over Sylvia Hanika in 1983. She will rise to No. 11 when the updated rankings are released.

It wasn’t surprising to see this match go the distance. The last time these two faced off, in the Birmingham final, Kerber needed three sets to prevail 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(4). The tennis wasn’t always pretty on Sunday. That’s because neither player had much luck from the service stripe. In fact, there were a staggering 18 breaks of serve in all in the two-hour, seven-minute match, including seven straight in the second set alone. Both players managed to win just 56 percent of their first-serve points. This was especially troubling for the powerful Pliskova, 23, the tour’s ace leader this year. She’d dropped her serve only once over three matches coming into the final, but she never found any rhythm with her signature shot with the title on the line and was broken 10 times.

“I was definitely off my serve. I didn’t feel it at all — not first serves, not second serves,” said Pliskova, who’s now reached more finals (five) in 2015 than any other player on the WTA Tour (yes, including Ms. Williams, she of the Serena Slam), but only has one title to show for it. “That’s probably the worst thing for me, when I don’t feel the serve is my best shot. I need it sometimes so much, to get the first serve in somehow. But it wasn’t working. I think that’s why I lost today.”

“We were breaking like every single game,” said Kerber. “It was up and down. I was just trying to focus on every game. It didn’t matter if I won my serve or lost it, because I knew I had a chance to break her again. In the end I wasn’t thinking about this because every point was important. I was just happy I broke her in the last game again.”  

Despite battling fatigue, Kerber simply out-steadied her opponent in the end, finishing with just 14 unforced errors to Pliskova’s 52. The 27-year-old was clearly the more consistent of the two off the ground, her intense off-court workouts keeping her in the points.

“She’s probably one of the fittest girls on the tour,” said Pliskova, who despite the loss will crack the top 10 for the first time, rising to No. 8 with her performance this week. (The Czech Republic will boast three women in the top 10 for the first time in WTA history.)

“I was trying to stay in the moment after I lost the second set, trying to be aggressive and trying to go for it in the important moments,” explained Kerber. “In the third set, I think there were just two or three balls that decided the win. I’m happy that I was going for it and not just pushing the ball back and hoping for mistakes. That was the key in the end for me.”

What a difference a year makes. Last year, Kerber was 0-4 in finals. In 2015, she’s a perfect 4-for-4.

The field opened up at Stanford before the first ball was even struck. Defending champion Serena Williams — a three-time Bank of the West Classic titlist — was a last-minute scratch due to an elbow injury. The woman Williams defeated in the Wimbledon final, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, was a no-show, too, citing an abdominal strain. When play did get underway, half of the top eight seeds were gone by the quarterfinals, with Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska (whom Kerber dispatched in three tough sets), Carla Suarez Navarro, and Andrea Petkovic all falling early.

Credit Kerber for making the most of her opportunity.