Australian Open 2020: Pliskova follows Osaka and Serena out of Melbourne in another upset
Saturday saw another Australian Open women’s singles contender, Karolina Pliskova, fall in the third round.
Karolina Pliskova became the latest high-profile casualty at the Australian Open, the second seed stunned by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets.
Defending champion Naomi Osaka and 23-time grand slam winner Serena Williams crashed out at Melbourne Park on Friday.
Pliskova – another women’s singles contender – joined the star duo in departing the year’s opening slam following Saturday’s 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) defeat to 30th seed and two-time quarter-finalist Pavlyuchenkova.
Semi-finalist last year, Pliskova had matched or improved her best results at the Australian Open year-on-year since debuting in 2013.
Lucky
Two-time quarterfinalist @NastiaPav records a first career win over Pliskova in seven attempts upsetting the No. 2 seed 7-6(4) 7-6(3).#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/HpzfaFuj71
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 25, 2020
However, the 2016 US Open runner-up was unable to build on her performances at Melbourne Park, where she succumbed to the aggressive Pavlyuchenkova in a gruelling encounter on Rod Laver Arena.
Pavlyuchenkova raced out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, which was highlighted by a 30-point second game, before eventually prevailing in a tie-break after Pliskova rallied.
Pliskova, who finished with 35 winners and 29 unforced errors, recovered from a slow start in the second to force another tie-break but the Czech star was unable to send the match into a deciding set.
After tallying 51 winners and 43 unforced errors in two hours, 25 minutes, Pavlyuchenkova will face 2016 champion and three-time slam winner Angelique Kerber in the last 16.
