Karolina Pliskova weathered a rollercoaster three-set battle against Victoria Azarenka to reach the Mutua Madrid Open third round for the first time.
MADRID, Spain - With play ticking past midnight, it was No.6 seed Karolina Pliskova who emerged victorious in a late night thriller against the resurgent Victoria Azarenka.
Fresh off a clay title in Stuttgart, Pliskova came into the match seeking her first career Madrid third round, and with the Belarusian contesting her first clay court tournament in nearly two years Pliskova had a great opportunity.
But Azarenka had other ideas, pushing Pliskova to the brink before the Czech finally edged through, winning 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 after a grueling two-hour-and-eight-minute battle.
The first set saw Pliskova start off on a tear, breaking early to lead 2-0. She fought off a spirited Azarenka challenge to hang onto the lead, closing it out with another break to reel off the last three games in a row and serve out the lopsided opening set.
But it was a completely different story in set two. Pliskova’s fearsome serve seemed to desert her as Azarenka raised her level considerably, breaking twice to open up a daunting 5-0 lead. Pliskova managed to dodge the bagel with a hold under pressure, but couldn’t turn around the set as Azarenka closed it out with ease.
The momentum shifted once more in the final set, with Pliskova breaking early and opening up a 3-0 lead in no time. But Azarenka refused to fade, finally getting on board after a marathon 13-minute game to avoid the double break. Instead, she broke straight back at 2-3, bringing them level.
The next few games unfolded tensely, with the next five games going comfortably to the server as the clock struck midnight in the Spanish capital. Pliskova clung to her serve after another marathon game at 6-5, timely aces bailing her out of trouble time and again. Finally it was Azarenka who blinked first as Pliskova finally broke serve to avoid the tiebreak and claim the victory.
Although the final tally revealed that Azarenka won one more point then Pliskova, the Czech lead in all the figures that mattered, outhitting her opponent with 31 winners - including eight aces - to Azarenka’s 26. She served at 70% and struck 44 unforced errors - a majority of which came in the lopsided second set - to Azarenka’s 38.
The victory extends Pliskova’s clay court winning streak to seven matches in a row. Up next, she’ll take on Sloane Stephens as she seeks a spot into the Madrid quarterfinals.
More to follow...
No comments:
Post a Comment