Top 5 wins of Karolina Pliskova's career
There have been a number of instances when a player has performed miserably in a tournament only to see his/her ranking climb, but Karolina Pliskova’s story takes the cake.
The Czech was beaten by eventual semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova in the second round of Wimbledon despite winning the first set, marking a fifth consecutive second round exit for the Czech. Despite another early Wimbledon exit, Pliskova will be the new WTA World No. 1 at the end of the tournament as Simona Halep, who needed to reach the semis of the tournament to dethrone Angelique Kerber from the No. 1 ranking, was eliminated by Johanna Konta in the quarter-finals.
Pliskova has been performing pretty well in the last 12 months and has established herself as one of the finest female tennis players in the world currently. Throughout her career, Pliskova has registered a number of big wins and this article elucidates the top five wins of her career.
#5 vs. Ana Ivanovic at the second round of the 2014 US Open
2014 was Pliskova’s breakthrough year as she made it into the Top 25 by the end of the season. After reaching the second round of the first three Grand Slams, Pliskova was determined to make an impact at the US Open.
The Czech was ranked 42nd in the world heading into the tournament and had a comfortable first round as she defeated 60th ranked Austrian Yvonne Meusberger 6-2, 6-2. Having made the second round of the US Open for the first time, Pliskova was up against 8th seed Ana Ivanovic who had reached the final of the Cincinnati Masters a few days back.
Pliskova held her nerve to take the first set 7-5 before taking the second set 6-4 to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. Pliskova was then eliminated in the next round, falling to 29th seed Casey Dellacqua in three sets.