Stuttgart, Germany
Karolina Pliskova will face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the quarter-finals of Stuttgart’s WTA clay-court tournament after seeing off Jelena Ostapenko in a three-set battle on Friday.
Pliskova, the sixth seed, recovered from losing the first set in a tie-break by firing down 21 aces, 10 of which came in the last set alone, for a 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-3 second-round win.
“I like spending time on this court,” joked Pliskova, the 2018 Stuttgart champion, after needing just under two and a half hours to claim victory.
“It was a really good match, because there was not many easy mistakes from both sides.
“It was a far better performance from me,” she added, having laboured in Wednesday’s victory over lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch.
Thursday’s result was almost identical to Pliskova’s win over Ostapenko in the 2018 quarter-finals in Stuttgart when the Czech went on to capture the title.
Former French Open champion Ostapenko hurled her racquet in anger in the second set, while Pliskova broke one of hers as she regained control of the match. “It always helps me when I break a racquet,” the Czech said.—APP
