Karolína Plíšková Cruises Past Wang to Reach Quarterfinals in Wuhan
Karolína Plíšková has successfully dealt with her second match in Wuhan, China as well. In her today’s encounter against the home player Qiang Wang she showed great form, lost only three games and celebrated advancement to the quarterfinals after just 50 minutes.
In the second round she battled with another home player, Shuai Zhang, but this time it was a one-sided match. Plíšková played excellent brave tennis and recorded 19 winners. “I felt great and absolutely relaxed on the court. Excellent,” Karolína Plíšková said contentedly after the match.
Yesterday she already learnt she had secured a spot at the WTA Finals in Singapore. “I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to Singapore. Just the participation itself at this event is a big success for me,” rejoiced Karolína, who has qualified for this highlight of the season for the second consecutive year.
Karolína Plíšková has also become the first player to hit 400 aces during the 2017 season. The ace queen is well on the way to finish the third season in a row with the most aces. “The serve is a basic pillar of my play. I’m glad it keeps working. It helps me a lot in my matches,” Karolína confirmed.
Today, her serve worked perfectly as well. Karolína hit three aces and didn’t face a single break point. In her next match she is going to face the talented Ashleigh Barty and will try to improve her maximum in this Chinese city, which has been the quarterfinal so far. She has a tied head-to-head record with the Australian.
Karolína Plíšková Donates 6,600 Euro to Sick Kids for 33 US Open Aces
33. That’s the final number of aces Karolína Plíšková managed to hit during her five matches at this year’s last Grand Slam, the US Open. Together with Chytrý Honza she is thus going to donate 6,600 euros through her endowment fund to the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Motol University Hospital in Prague.
Despite Plíšková lost to Coco Vandeweghe and didn’t reach the semifinal, she finished second in the total number of aces at the event, being only surpassed by the finalist Madison Keys, who, however, played two matches more. In the WTA world ranking, Karolína Plíšková now sits on the fourth position.
“It got on my mind a few times during my matches, what these aces actually mean. So, on several occasions I risked even the second serve a bit more,” the Czech number one admitted with a smile. Karolína Plíšková, together with Chytrý Honza, will hand over the check for 6,600 euros to the paediatric oncology in late October, following her return from the tournament in Singapore.
Plíšková Looks out for Wuhan Following Loss to Kerber
Karolína Plíšková met Anqelique Kerber for the first time since the last year’s US Open final. The battle of the two former world number ones turned into an exceptionally tight match, which ended in the German’s win, 7-6, 7-5. Plíšková now focuses her attention on the tournament in Wuhan.
Plíšková faced Kerber for the ninth time and this was her sixth loss. It seemed as if both players freed themselves from the huge pressure following the US Open and showed a great spectacle to the fans. The match was decided by just a few balls and Kerber was the luckier of the two. She won the first set in a tie-break and grabbed the second with her first break of her opponent’s serve.
Plíšková is now getting ready for the WTA Premier 5 event in Wuhan, China. Then she is going to move on to Beijing for the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament. The Czech still has a chance to get back to the tennis throne as she doesn’t defend too many points in Asia. Also, her goal is to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore for the second time.
