Top seed Karolina Pliskova had to win two matches against Polona Hercog and Sofia Kenin in one day to reach the semifinals at the Zhengzhou Open.
After beating Polona Hercog 6-3 7-5 in a rain-delayed match, Pliskova battled past Kenin 6-4 4-6 6-1 improving her head-to-head record to 4-0 against the 20-year-old US player.
Pliskova hit 18 aces and saved nine of the eleven break points.
The Czech player will take on the winner of the quater final between Alja Tomljanovic and Zheng Saisai.
“To play two matches in a day, it’s never easy. In the first match I was lucky enough not to go to a third set. I just finished quickly and saved more power for the next match. I think I played good tennis in both matches. I was serving well, a lot of aces, which always helps, and there is a lot of positive things for tomorrow. I played Tomljanovic in Rome and in Brisbane. She is dangerous and beat Kiki Bertens. I did not see much of her tennis here, but it’s the semifinals, so everyone is confident and playing their best tennis. With Saisai we played a long time ago.”, said Pliskova.
