Karolina Pliskova in 2020: Stylish start, struggle at the Grand Slams
Karolina Pliskova will finish 2020 inside the world’s top 10 once again but the Czech will be disappointed with how she fared at the Grand Slams. We review her season.
Karolina Pliskova
Karolina Pliskova continues to seek that elusive first Grand Slam title but the good news for the WTA’s ace queen is that she will end the year inside the top 10 for the fifth straight time.
- Ranking at end of 2019: 2
- Ranking at end of 2020: 6
- 2020 Win/Loss: 14/8
- Titles: 1
Best performance: Champion in Brisbane
Pliskova claimed her third Brisbane title at the start of the year, ousting the now three-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals before battling past Madison Keys in the final in another three-setter. She saw a 5-3 lead in the third set evaporate but won the final two games for a 7-5 victory. The Czech also made the final in Rome in September but had to retire against Simona Halep with a leg injury.
Best Grand Slam event: Round three in Melbourne
The 28-year-old reached the third round at the Australian Open, where she fell in two tiebreaks against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
High point: Winning her one title
The best moment of Pliskova’s year was undoubtedly her run to capture her third Brisbane crown.
Reunited and it feels so good 🏆 @KaPliskova #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/F4GgEKVZqZ
— #BrisbaneTennis (@BrisbaneTennis) January 12, 2020
Low point: Sluggish at Grand Slams
Not getting past the second round at any major apart from the Australian Open, falling in her second match at both Roland-Garros and the US Open. It was the first time since 2015 Pliskova hadn’t made the quarter-finals at any Grand Slam.
In the media: In the bubble
Tennis Life 2020 pic.twitter.com/urJ3Ms85XN
— Karolina Pliskova (@KaPliskova) October 18, 2020
Self-assessment: “One bad season, maybe it was time for it to come”
Pliskova ended her 2020 by losing her opener to Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova in Ostrava. It was a difficult season by her standards but perhaps, as she said, she was due for a slight dip.
“The year is done, so I have to put it behind me and just hope that next year is going to be better. I had plenty of good seasons in a row, so one bad season, maybe it was time for it to come.”
The coronavirus pandemic drastically altered the tennis schedule and Pliskova is hoping for next year’s tour to resemble 2019 as much as it can.
“Maybe I didn’t really find the rhythm of tournaments and of playing matches and travelling,” she said. “Of course I’m just happy that there were some tournaments actually, because otherwise it would be too long. Hopefully next year is going to be much better, much different, and back to a little bit of normal, like we are used to.”
Tennis Majors assessment
Pliskova made her Grand Slam breakthrough with a bang at the 2016 US Open. Never before into a quarter-final at a major, Pliskova advanced to the last eight before upsetting Serena Williams to make the final. Even though she fell short against Angelique Kerber, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before a Grand Slam singles trophy would come her way.
But it hasn’t, and Pliskova is now going through what compatriot Petra Kvitova experienced in 2018 — flourishing away from the majors but struggling on the biggest stages in the sport. Kvitova overcame her issues and Pliskova will be desperate to do the same in 2021. She will, however, enter a season once again off the back of a coaching change after cutting ties with one of her coaches, Dani Vallverdu.
