TENNIS WTA LINZ – In the WTA Linz, Karolina Pliskova put an end to the Cinderella-run of Anna-Lena Friedsam, while Camila Giorgi won the derby with Karin Knapp. From Linz, Giulio Gasparin
Karolina Pliskova press conference
The only seed left in the tournament after round 2, Pliskova, captured her fifth final of the year, the third in the last five tournaments she entered. After struggling with the exuberant game of the German qualifier in the first set, the Czech managed to find her best tennis and turn the match around.
Friedsam, who upset Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in the first round, showed all her potential thanks to a great all-round game and impressive power from the baseline, but the variations that Pliskova added to her game from the second set proved to be very difficult for her to handle.
With one set won by both, it was the decider set to chose the name of the finalist. The German started it very well, supported by the friendly crowd, but it was the Czech who found the winning momentum, winning five consecutive games to close 2-6 6-3 6-3.
In the final, Pliskova will face Camila Giorgi, who lost no sets en route to her second final of the year and of her career at WTA level, after the lost one in Katowice.
The Italian upset her compatriot Knapp in a very high quality match finished 6-4 6-2 for the younger of the two.
The girl from Macerata displayed a great improvement in her tactics, so that she managed to keep her number of errors low, even without reducing the pressure put from the baseline.
With a terrific display in almost every department, Giorgi won six consecutive games in the second set and puts herself as the favourite for the title of WTA Linz, despite it was Pliskova who won the only match between them this year.
