By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 19, 2019
Photo Source: Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images for LTA
Karolina Pliskova has established herself as the breadwinner among the Pliskova twins with her Grand Slam final and World No.1 ranking (she's currently ranked No.3 in the WTA), but on Wednesday at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham it was Kristyna Pliskova who pulled out the victory.
She’ll have to pay for that.
"We had a deal before the match that whoever wins is buying something for the other one, so I get a present,” the younger (by two minutes) Pliskova twin said after falling to her sister 6-2 3-6 7-6(7) in the first ever WTA-level singles match between not just the twins, but any twins--ever!
Nerves played a big role after the twins traded breaks in a tense third set and headed to a deciding tiebreaker. Kristyna double-faulted on her first match point but a few points later Karolina double-faulted to give her sister a third match point.
Kristyna, who struck 24 aces and 49 winners in the match, converted to seal the victory in one hour and 55 minutes.
The twins, who had met eight times previously at Challenger and qualifier level, are currently sharing a room together at the tournament. And hopefully, they’ll dine together tonight…
The Pliskova twins are just the third pair of twins to meet in tour-level tennis in the Open Era, after Tim and Tom Gullickson and Mike and Bob Bryan
Kristyna Pliskova will next face Barbora Strycova in the quarter-finals at Birmingham.