Kiki Bertens Stuns Pliskova To Reach Maiden Wimbledon Quarter-Finals - UBITENNIS

Kiki Bertens Stuns Pliskova To Reach Maiden Wimbledon Quarter-Finals

Kiki Bertens has reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final after a straight sets win over the 7th seed Karolina Pliskova.

By Tony Fairbairn
3 Min Read
Kiki Bertens (zimbio.com)

Kiki Bertens stuns the last remaining top 10 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3 7-6(1) to make the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time. 

The 20th seed, who edged out defending finalist Venus Williams in her last match, started the match with aggression and intent as she broke for a 2-1 lead in the opening set. The Czech Republican, who doesn’t particularly favour this surface came back into the match as some good forehands gave her the break back. The world number eight was looking avoid the top 10 seed curse as she was the only top 10 player left standing heading into the second week.

However some calamitous point construction lead to Pliskova’s downfall as she was broken twice more to lose the opening set to an aggressive Bertens. The Dutchwoman stuck to her game plan that lead to her upset of Venus Williams as she targeted the Pliskova backhand. The momentum was with Bertens as she continued to out muscle the world number eight as she raced to a 4-1 lead.

However Pliskova wasn’t going to exit the tournament without a fight as she showed a variety of tactics to try and halt the 20th seed’s momentum. Eventually the break came for Pliskova as she roared to her chair as the set was back on serve. However she was only preventing the inevitable as Bertens dominated the second set tiebreak to seal her second top 10 scalp of these championships.

It was a stunning performance that proves that Bertens is more than capable to produce these performances on more than just a clay court. As for Pliskova, this is her best performance at Wimbledon and will look to build on this momentum for the rest of the season.

Bertens will now play either Julia Goerges or Donna Vekic in the quarter-finals tomorrow. In other results Dominika Cibulkova edged out Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 6-4 to reach the last eight for the first time since 2016. The Slovakian knocked out the conqueror of Simona Halep with some aggressive and feisty play as she sealed victory in 83 minutes.

The world number 33 will now meet 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko after she won 11 of the last 12 games to defeat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(4) 6-0. The Latvian will now play her second consecutive quarter-final at Wimbledon after eventually ousting the Belarusian.

Camila Giorgi also made the last eight at Wimbledon after a 6-3 6-4 win over Ekaterina Makarova. The Italian used her big serve to make the quarter-finals, where she will face either Serena Williams or Evgeniya Rodina.

More To Follow.

TAGGED:
Leave a comment