Karolina Pliskova came back from one set down to beat Naomi Osaka 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in a marathon match reaching the third final of her career in Brisbane.
Pliskova earned her first break after saving a match point at 40-30 to force the second set to the tie-break. The Czech player clinched the tie-break 7-3 forcing the match to the third set.
Pliskova hit 8 of her 15 aces and saved all the six break points in the third set and broke serve twice in the first and seventh games to win the third set 6-2. The Czech star fended off 12 of the 13 break points she faced and hit 52 winners to 28 unforced errors.
Pliskova won 15 of her last 16 matches she played in Brisbane and won two titles at this tournament.
“The moment shifted on the match point, but the set was not over because there was the tie-break to come and I lost the first one. I definitely felt I played a great game at 6-all, so maybe my energy was up a bit more and I had nothing to lose. I was definitely much stronger and maybe physically too. I felt like I was not going to lose the final set.”, said Pliskova.
Pliskova will meet Madison Keys for the first time in her career in the final. Keys rallied from a set and a break down to beat former Brisbane International champion and two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova 3-6 6-2 6-3. Kvitova built up a 6-3 2-0 lead, but Keys turned around the match by winning 12 of the final 15 games.
Kvitova was broken at love, as she was serving for the first set, and converted on her fourth set point in the ninth game. Kvitova went up a break in the opening game of the second set, but Keys broke serve three times and never faced a break point. The third set featured five breaks in the last six games. After two trades of break Keys earned the decisive break at 30 in the eighth game and served out on her first match point in the ninth game.
“I think Petra and I always have super long competitive matches, so it’s always great to be able to come out from those tough matches, and not only for this tournament, but just to be able to have a lot of great matches right off the start going into the new season”,said Keys.
