Kristyna Pliskova earned the biggest win of her career by beating her sister Karolina 6-2 3-6 7-6(7) in an extraordinary second-round match at the Nature Valley Classic.
It was the first victory for the Czech, 27, over a player ranked in the World’s Top 5. It is also significant in terms of ranking, as it ensures she will be back in the Top 100 when the list is updated next Monday.
“Because she is my sister, I don’t see her as a top three player,” Kristyna said. “If I beat someone who was No. 1 or No. 2, I would be extremely happy, but this is normal for me.”
Kristyna explained what it has been like having her sister with her in the world of tennis. “I’m of course proud of her,” she said. “She was No. 1 so she’s really doing great and I think she can win a lot in the future still.”
She continued, “We always have our best friend on tour. We always stay so close and talk about everything, and she’s also helping me so much because sometimes the things which I go through, she also went through so we kind of have the same feelings, so I think it has helped us a lot.”
Kristyna starts superbly but Karolina fights back
Kristyna made a brilliant start to the match. She dominated on serve in the first set and broke Karolina in the third and fifth games to take the opening set 6-2.
Unsurprisingly, Karolina responded aggressively in the second set and she earned an early break to open up a 3-0 lead. Although Kristyna recovered to keep the set competitive, her Czech twin only gave her two chances to break (both in game seven) and she saved them both on her way to clinching the set 6-3.
The deciding set was the most dramatic. Kristyna saved three break points in the opening game and then broke Karolina to love in the fourth game. She then saved two more break points in game five and, at 4-1, it briefly looked like she might win it easily.
Her sister had other ideas. She won the next three games to love to level the match at 4-4. Suddenly a tie-break looked inevitable and, four relatively comfortable holds later, that is exactly what happened.
Kristyna edges tense tie-break
Neither Pliskova gave an inch for the first ten points. Then Karolina served a double-fault to gift Kristyna her first match point. Incredibly, Kristyna also double-faulted to make it 6-6.
When Karolina double-faulted again at 7-7, Kristyna made no mistake on that match point. She thundered down a big serve and Karolina knocked her return long.
“I’m happy for her,” Karolina said. “She played some good matches here. She was feeling confident today and she had nothing to lose. It is tough to play your sister, but I think she was playing well.”
She continued, “I think she should not really be where she is (in the rankings). If she serves well, I think she’s super dangerous for so many players, plus if she is playing well, she can beat a lot of top players and a lot of normal players. It depends how she plays.”
