By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, February 13, 2015
Karolina Pliskova scored her fifth consecutive straight-sets win to reach the Antwerp semifinals.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy (@tennis_shots)
Karolina Pliskova is the third highest-ranked Czech behind Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and Australian Open doubles champ Lucie Safarova.
Despite strong serving from the fourth-seeded Safarova, Pliskova stayed one step ahead in today's all-Czech showdown.
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Pliskova played crucial points with clarity, posting a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory to reach her second semifinal of the season in Antwerp.
The eighth-seeded Czech scored her fifth straight-sets win in a row.
Pliskova hit eight aces and denied all four break points she face in the 87-minute match. Safarova also smacked eight aces, defended her second serve better (winning 73 percent of her second-serve points compared to 57 percent for Pliskova), but suffered the only service break of the match.
The 22nd-ranked Pliskova will face Carla Suarez Navarro for a spot in Sunday's final.
The fifth-seeded Spaniard saved 10 of 11 break points in a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Italian qualifier Francesca Schiavone to snap the 2010 French Open champion's five-match winning streak.
Last month, Pliskova rallied past Suarez Navarro, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 en route to the Sydney final that vaulted her into the Top 20 for the first time. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova swept Mona Barthel, 6-2, 6-2, a day after Barthel beat top-seeded Genie Bouchard.
No. 3 seed Andrea Petkovic faces sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the later quarterfinal.
Petkovic, who saved eight match points in her opening-round win, will return to the WTA's Top 10 for the first time since 2012 when the new rankings are released on Monday.