Karolina Pliskova has missed out on her chance of reclaiming the world No.1 position after crashing out 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(2), to Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals of the Wuhan Open.
The Czech entered the match knowing that she had to win this week’s tournament and for Garbine Muguruza to fall before the semifinals in order to rise back to the top of the WTA rankings. Her goal was ended by some audacious play from Barty, who had previously never progressed beyond the third round at any Premier event prior to this week.
“I’ve played Karolina a couple times now and it has been close every time. I’m happy to come through with the win today and I feel like we both played pretty good.” Said Barty, who hit 46 winners to 22 unforced errors in the match.
At the start Pliskova looked in control of proceedings, hitting shots which painted the lines and carefully taming any attack her opponent mounted. During her first ten service games, the third seed didn’t face a single break point as she clinched the opening set.
Barty, who also produced impressive starts behind her serve, began her resurgence in the second set. Refusing to be intimidated by a player ranked 33 places higher than her, she held her nerve to take proceedings into a tiebreaker. With Pliskova on the verge of victory, a chip and charge from Barty forced the error rival. Allowing the Australian to lead the tiebreaker 4-3, before she clinched it with a clean forehand cross-court winner.
With all to play for, both players continued battling until the very end. Barty broke twice on her way to serving for the biggest win of her life. Leading 5-4 in the decider, the Australian raced to three match points at 40-0. Still, it wasn’t enough to get the better of her more experienced opponent. Pliskova’s greater experience proved crucial as she hit a series of deep returns to allow her to claw her way back to level at 5-5.
As both maintain poker faces on the court, it was a decisive tiebreaker that decided the outcome. The cat and mouse chase continued with opportunities coming and going. Eventually, it was the deep hitting and the angle shot-making from Barty that prevailed. Her resilience got the better of Pliskova, who crumbled when it mattered that most. Back-to-back unforced errors from the Czech granted the underdog more match point chances. The victory was then given to her following a Pliskova double fault.
“It was definitely about looking after my service games.” Barty commented about how she won the match. “It was going to be tough to make inroads on her service games. I think in the second and third set I returned a lot better and gave myself an opportunity to get into those games.”
Barty’s route into the semifinals is even more remarkable considering she returned to the WTA Tour 15 months ago. Bombarded with pressure at a young age, she briefly stepped away from the sport and began playing in her country’s national cricket league. Since her comeback, she has won her maiden WTA title in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year.
“I have been able to mentally refresh and enjoy myself when I didn’t play,” she explained about her break. “But I was very motivated and worked very hard last yet to get back to where I am now.“
In her maiden Premier semifinal, Barty will play either world No.1 Muguruza or French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
