Due to the inclement weather that disrupted Thursday’s schedule, the current WTA world No. 1 was forced to play back-to-back matches during Friday’s day session at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The Czech emerged unscathed and convincingly booked her spot in the semifinals.
By Lorenzo Dellagiovanna
CINCINNATI – Friday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati was a crucial day for Karolina Pliskova’s hopes to remain at the top of the WTA rankings for the rest of the 2017 season. Pliskova, Halep, Svitolina and Wozniacki all entered the event with the possibility to sit on top of the world rankings at the end of the tournament. After the torrential rain that derailed the majority of Thursday’s schedule, the current world No.1 emerged unscathed from back-to-back matches and booked her spot in the semifinals.
Pliskova’s round of 16 match against qualifier Camila Giorgi of Italy started on Thursday evening with the Czech dominating the tournament’s most surprising player and sprinting to a 3-0 lead. When play resumed at 1 PM under a mostly cloudless sky and with temperatures reaching almost 85°F, the match became more balanced with both players hitting the ball beautifully from the back of the court. Pliskova’s easy power was matched by Giorgi’s great anticipation skills in fast baseline rallies delighting the local crowd that gathered on Court 3.
Pliskova primarily focused on winning her service games and capitalizing on the break advantage from the night before. Giorgi’s strategy was clearly based on moving her opponent from side to side, but the Italian couldn’t completely execute her game plan and committed too many unforced errors in the crucial moments of the set, while her Czech opponent remained steady under pressure. Pliskova saved two important break-points with service winners while leading 5-3 and wrapped up the first set 6-3 with impeccable serving stats. Pliskova’s serve proved almost unplayable throughout the set despite the pressure applied by Giorgi standing two feet inside the baseline on the Czech’s second delivery.
In the second set, Giorgi cut down on her unforced errors and managed to hit some spectacular winners that allowed her to stay neck-and-neck with the world No. 1. With Pliskova serving at 4-5, the Italian finally broke the Czech powerhouse with three incredible winners, including two extraordinary cross-court backhands. The second set went to the Italian with the score of 6-4.
The match was virtually decided in the first game of the third set: Giorgi was serving at 30-30 when chair umpire Marija Čičak called a “time violation” on the Italian, which changed the momentum in the Czech’s favor again. Giorgi was visibly distracted and irritated by the umpire’s warning and started missing a few routine backhands that eventually cost her the match.
Pliskova quickly found her range and didn’t allow the Italian to step foot into the match again. The Czech closed the match with an emphatic 6-0 score in the third set.
6-3, 4-6, 6-0 was the final score in Pliskova’s favor.
A couple of hours later, the Czech took the court again against none other than Caroline Wozniacki – a former world No. 1 currently ranked No. 5 – in one of the most anticipated clashes of the women’s tournament. The head-to-head between the two players was clearly in Wozniacki’s favor, with the Dane leading 5-2. Furthermore, Caroline beat the tall Czech in a titanic quarterfinal clash at the Canadian Open last week.
Pliskova clearly showed that she didn’t want to be involved in long rallies right from the beginning of the match. Wozniacki is one of the best defenders in women’s tennis and her speedy footwork typically allows her to retrieve an incredible amount of balls causing massive problems to power players who rely on aggressive shot-making abilities. Today the Dane didn’t bring her A-game to the table though and Pliskova didn’t show any signs of fatigue from her previous match.
The world No. 1 broke Wozniacki early in the match with aggressive returns and clean down-the-line shots that painted the lines. The Czech jumped to a 4-2 lead and ended up breaking the Dane’s serve for the second time in the set with another incredible return and a beautiful forehand winner. Pliskova then closed the first set 6-2 in exactly 30 minutes with a solid service hold.
Wozniacki seemed unable to match Pliskova’s power and committed a few unusual unforced errors. Early in the second set, the Czech decided to shorten the rallies even more and her strategy proved incredibly successful, hitting a ton of service winners and finishing the point with one-two punches. Pliskova broke the Wozniacki serve to take a 3-1 lead and never looked back. She capitalized on her early break and closed the second set 6-4 holding her last service game at love.
6-2, 6-4 was the final score in the Czech’s favor.
“I think even the first match helped me to have some rallies today,” The top seed said about playing two matches on the same day. “Physically (the first match) was not that tough so I was warmed up enough.”
Today’s back-to-back wins were massive for Pliskova, who is not only defending her Cincinnati title, but is also trying to fend off the challengers to her No. 1 ranking. Her victory against Wozniacki could be crucial for the race to No. 1.
