By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, September 1, 2016
"I think I'm playing good tennis right now so I'm ready for the next challenge," said Karolina Pliskova after reaching the US Open third round.
Photo credit: Getty
NEW YORK—The destructive serve that booms off the back wall and decorative tattoos that adorn her left arm and leg are distinctive features Karolina Pliskova carries on court.
Empowered by her burst to the Cincinnati title earlier this month, Pliskova arrived in Flushing Meadows with a dual purpose: Make her mark on the season's final Grand Slam while shedding her ignominious label as a major underachiever.
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So far, Pliskova is making progress on both fronts.
The 10th-seeded Czech overwhelmed Paraguayan qualifier Montserrat Gonzalez, 6-1, 7-5, to power into the US Open third round for the second time. Her performance winning in the Queen City has infused Pliskova with confidence in Queens.
"It's different but now it's almost two years that I'm for the first one or two rounds I'm always seeded," Pliskova said. "So I'm the player who has to win or who should win. I'm already a little used to this condition. So I knew how to handle the pressure a little bit. I think with those two matches I played really good and handled the pressure really well and I'm playing some good tennis. So it is a little bit different but the confidence is always helping."
It was Pliskova's seventh straight win and propels her into the third round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The 17th-seeded Russian withstood 10 double faults edging Roland Garros doubles champion Kristina Mladenovic, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) in three hours, two minutes.
Top players aim to peak for Grand Slams. Pliskova is playing to avoid the pratfalls that have plagued her in past majors.
The world No. 11 is the only Top 20 player yet to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.
Contesting her 18th major, Pliskova is playing with the confidence that could fuel a second-week run in New York.
Before getting too giddy over Pliskova's early-round performance, consider the 192nd-ranked Gonzalez was making her major main-draw debut and contesting just the fourth Tour-level, main-draw tournament of her career. Pliskova's first-round opponent, 243rd-ranked American wild card Sofia Kenin, was also a Grand Slam debutant.
Still, Pliskova, who scored successive wins over Grand Slam champions Svetlana Kuznetsova, Garbine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber capturing the Cincinnati title, has now won 14 of her last 17 singles matches. She also made the Wimbledon doubles semifinal with partner Julia Goerges and believes this summer surge has been transformative.
"Definitely I feel great after the week in Cincinnati. I beat some good players and had some good matches," Pliskova said. "I think I won seven matches in a row so cannot be better right now.
"Even the two matches I've played here I think I played pretty solid and good so a good match to win in two sets and now I'm waiting for the opponent probably a little bit more tough so it's gonna be another experience for me in the next round, but I think I'm ready for it. I think I'm playing good tennis right now so I'm ready for the next challenge."
Can Pliskova, who has been notoriously tight in prior Grand Slam, play pressure-free tennis to continue to assert her game against more experience opponents?
U.S. Fed Cup and Olympic captain Mary Joe Fernandez points to Pliskova's decision to skip the Rio Olympics as a positive for her US Open aspirations.
"I think players like Halep and Pliskova, they didn't go to the Olympics, so they will be a little bit more fresh mentally and physically," Fernandez said. "And they are both playing well."
When her first serve is clicking, the six-foot-one Czech can command against almost any opponent. Pliskova leads the WTA ace race for the second straight year: She's bombed 429 aces in 51 matches this season putting her well ahead of world No. 1 Serena Williams, who has banged 272 aces in 39 matches.
"It was always my weapon," Pliskova said of her serve."I've always been practicing my serve a lot because it's obviously the best shot and the shot which is deciding the matches. So it's very important shot for me. Not always it's working, but I think I can when it's deuce or some important points I'm able to (hit) an ace or a quality serve. I've been practicing the serve a lot."
Asked if she was aware of her status as ace queen, Pliskova deadpanned: "I know it. When you have twitter you know almost all of the things."
More importantly, Pliskova is holding serve 78 percent of the time, which is fifth on the WTA behind Serena, Victoria Azarenka, Madison Keys and Lucie Safarova.
"I won the (ace title) last year as well and this year I'm leading pretty much. Serena is far behind me," Pliskova said. "It's a good thing but doesn't really mean anything. It's a sign I have a good serve but that doesn't mean that I have to win the matches."
Venus Williams has cited both Pete Sampras and Boris Becker as serving role models in her younger years. Pliskova says she never modeled her serve on another player.
"Not really, obviously there were players with good serves," Pliskova said. "But not that I had some idols of the serve."