When Success Come In Pairs: A Portrait Of Kristyna And Karolina Pliskova - UBITENNIS
Connect with us

Focus

When Success Come In Pairs: A Portrait Of Kristyna And Karolina Pliskova

Published

on

Karolina Pliskova has just become the new WTA World Number 1, knocking Angie Kerber off the mountaintop. Her twin sister Kristyna is also fast-rising, reaching a new career high of 35 in the WTA singles ranking.

 

At first glance, you might be asking yourself: “Who is playing now? Kristyna or Karolina ?”. When the Czech tennis stars and identical twins play at the same WTA event, the question eventually comes up. They are equally stunning, tall and hard-serving: just to avoid confusion, remember that Kristyna is lefty while Karolina is right-handed.

Both twins were very successful juniors, with Karolina winning the Australian Open in 2010 and Kristyna the prestigious Wimbledon title the same year. Karolina’s singles career has so far been most successful, reaching the U.S. Open final in 2016 and the semifinal at the French Open this year.

Overall she has won 9 WTA singles titles, 3 in the 2017 season (Brisbane, Doha and Eastbourne) which gave her the latest peak in her still young career; her next target is definitely going to be a Grand Slam title.

After a rather slow start, Kristyna’s career is finally moving at full steam having clinched her first WTA title in Tashkent last year, coupled with a final in Prague last May. The twins have also played a few doubles together, claiming the titles in Hong Kong, Bad Gastein (2014) and in Linz (2013).

Their first serve is a real lethal weapon;  Krystina holds the record for most aces in a single match, blasting 31 against Monica Puig at the 2016 Australian Open. Since 2015, Karolina has served more aces on the WTA tour than any other player, overwhelming her opponents especially on grass and hard courts. When she is on fire, it is very hard to break her serve or even get any kind of rhythm on the return.

Being identical twins, identifying them might become an error-prone exercise to outsiders: “They are congratulating her if I win, and that’s not a really nice feeling. Sometimes she just lost a tight match and they say congrats to her. I almost got used to this thing. Yeah, I think we have different first names, so maybe the people could see the draw and just don’t make sure they’re still confusing us,” Karolina once said to the press.

Kristyna’s rise to the Top seems inevitable but there is for sure one thing she would not like to experience on the main WTA tour: “Well, definitely I would not like to play against Karolina! After my boyfriend, she is the person with whom I spend more time talking on the phone.”

The key differences for the twins are to be found in their upcoming challenges; while Karolina will struggle to keep her 1st spot during the summer as she is going to defend a huge pile of points between Cincinnati and the U.S. Open, Krystina might breaking soon into the world’s Top 30 for the first time.

Focus

Nick Kyrgios Opens Up About His Self-Harm Battle And Murray’s Support

Published

on

Nick Kyrgios (AUS) playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) in the third round of the Gentlemen's Singles on No.1 Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 6 Saturday 03/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Jonathan Nackstrand

Nick Kyrgios says he became addicted to pain during his battle with self-harm that lasted between 18 and 24 months.

 

In an exclusive interview with Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV, the former Wimbledon finalist spoke about his mental health issues. Kyrgios has previously spoken publically about the topic but has now revealed further details about the extent he went through and the role Andy Murray played in supporting him. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward in London and contemplated suicide following the 2019 Wimbledon Championships.

“It was pretty dark to be honest,” Kyrgios told Morgan. “I won tournaments on the professional tour, drinking every night, self-harming, burning things on my arm, cutting myself for fun. It became an addiction of pain. I hated myself. I hated waking up and being Nick Kyrgios.”

One of those who tried to help the Australian address his self-harm problem was three-time Grand Slam champion Murray who noticed cuts on Kyrgios’ arms during one of their practice sessions four years ago. According to The Times, the former world No.1 then alerted Kyrgios’ manager John Morris about the cuts.

Paying tribute to the Brit, Kyrgios says Murray has supported him throughout his career. The 28-year-old has been ranked as high as 13th in the world and has won seven ATP titles. Besides his run to the Wimbledon final last year, he has also reached the quarter-final stage of a major on three other occasions.

“Andy was always a big supporter of me,” Kyrgios said. “As soon as I came on the tour, he kind of saw a work in progress and took me under his wing. Then he realised later in my career that I don’t think I was coachable or I was on my own path, but he was always someone that was looking out for me.
“He saw it [the self-harm] and he said, ‘What’s that on your arm?’ It was pretty bad at that stage. Andy obviously was trying to give me advice on it. But I was just so stuck in my ways at that time that I didn’t listen. Obviously I’m very thankful. I thank him a lot.”

Kyrgios, who has only played one match on the Tour this season due to injury, hopes that he can help others by speaking publicly about his mental health battle. Something he describes as ‘the most powerful thing in his career.’

“I feel like I’ve helped so many people after I opened up about it and put it on social media,” Kyrgios said.
“I’ve almost been a beacon for people who are struggling. When they feel like they’re overwhelmed and they’re going towards drinking, drugs and stuff, they open up and they feel like I’m relatable.
“That’s been the most powerful thing in my career; people coming to me with genuine issues.
“They send me photos in my Instagram, direct messages, self-harming and genuinely wanting to commit suicide.
“I have conversations with these people. Sometimes I’ve had phone calls with these people. That’s making a real difference and I’m just really proud.”

Kyrgios recently had a stint in broadcasting after working for The Tennis channel during the ATP Finals in Milan. He is continuing his rehab from injury but it is unclear as to when he will make his return to professional tennis.

Continue Reading

Focus

Hamad Medjedovic earns first place in Red Group at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

Published

on

Hamad Medjedovic beat Abdullah Shelbayh 3-4 (6-8) 4-2 4-3 (7-5) 4-2 to earn first place in the Red Group with a perfect 3-0 record at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah. 

 

Medjedovic needed to win at least one set to reach the semifinals, while Shelbayh needed to win the match in three or four sets. Luca Van Assche qualified as the second-placed player from the Red Group.

Medjedovic will face Dominic Stricker in the semifinal, while Van Assche takes on Arthur Fils.  

Medjedovic fired 18 aces and won 88 % of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points against Shelbayh. 

Medjedovic fired a tournament-leading 45 aces and was broken twice. 

Medjedovic saved three break points to hold serve in the fourth game of the first set. Shelbayh went up a mini-break twice, but Medjedovic pulled back on serve both times. Shelbayh won the final three points to clinch the tie-break 8-6. Both players went on serve in the first five games before Medjedovic earned the break to win the second set 4-2. 

The third set went on serve with no break points en route to the tie-break. Shelbayh earned the first mini-break to take a 3-2 lead. Medjedovic pulled back on serve to draw level to 3-3. The Serbian player earned a second mini-break to close out the tie-break 7-5. 

Medjedovic started the fourth set with an early break in the first game. He held on his next service games and sealed the win on his first match point. 

Medjedovic set up a semifinal match against Dominic Stricker. Luc Van Assche will face Arthur Fils in an all-French semifinal.“It was a great match. I played really good after the first set He is a very good friend of mine. He is a very good player and obviously the crowd here loves him and I respect that. It was a pleasure to play in front of the crowd”, said Medjedovic. 

Continue Reading

Focus

Dominic Stricker cruises past Luca Nardi at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah

Published

on

Third seed Dominic Stricker cruised past Luca Nardi 4-1 4-1 4-2 in 54 minutes in the fastest match in the history of the Next Gen Finals at the Next Gen ATP Finals at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah bouncing back from his defeat in the first match against Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday. 

 

Stricker converted four of his six break points and hit 13 winners, including 3 aces. 

Stricker came back from 15-40 down in the first game after two double faults from Nardi and broke serve with a return winner on the deciding point to take a 1-0 lead. The world number 94 saved three break-back-back points in the second game from 15-40 down before breaking for the second time in the fifth game to win the first set 4-1. 

Stricker broke serve at 30 in the second game of the second set and held serve at love in the third game to race out to a 3-0 lead. Stricker served it out on his second set point. 

Stricker earned an early break in the first game of the third set on the deciding point and held his next service games. Nardi saved the first match point but he hit his backhand into the net on the second match point after the longest rally of the match. 

“We had a long discussion yesterday evening about how to do it today. I think it was really good that we talked a lot after what maybe was not my best performance. Now to come out today like that, I think nobody expected that. I am just happy that I did it and now I am going to try my best to recover for the third group match”, said Stricker. Stricker is now 1-1 in Green Group. The Swiss player is aiming to reach his second consecutive semifinal at the Next Gen Finals. He is looking to crown a good year after reaching the fourth round at the US Open. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending