Karolina Pliskova’s love affair with the Australian Open continues, the Czech cruising through to the quarterfinals with a 6-3 6-1 victory over Garbine Muguruza inside an hour.
Of the six current and former WTA No.1s to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park, Pliskova was the first to book her spot in the quarters, beating Muguruza to set up a showdown with 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.
“I feel better with every match that I play here,” said Pliskova after the 17th win of her Australian Open career – more than any other major – on MCA, her favourite court.
“I think I played well. Obviously, the important thing was the first set when we had some close games – the beginning was nervous from us both. It’s a little bit tricky here, with the wind and the shadows, just have to stay focused.”
Pliskova came into the match with a 7-2 career head-to-head record against Muguruza and, while the No.18 seed had dropped just one set in reaching the fourth round to Pliskova’s two, the Czech came into the match having spent almost an hour less on court en route to the last 16.
Both players broke early in the opening set, Muruguza striking first before Pliskova immediately levelled up at 2-2. From there, however, the pattern of those previous meetings set in – Pliskova finding her groove, the No.8 seed’s flat drives staying uncomfortably low for the Spaniard, who began spraying errors while asking too much of the ball.
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“I felt confident coming to this match because I beat her so many times,” admitted Pliskova, who made just three unforced errors in the match. “I like these conditions here, I've been playing well the last couple of matches, and I had a tough match the day before. I was feeling confident about this matchup somehow today.
“And when I broke her for the first time, I knew there's going to be always a chance. At the beginning I think she didn't play bad; once I started winning I felt so much more confident. Her game was going a little bit down because she lost to me so many times.”
Two cross-court backhand winners from Pliskova brought her two break points at 3-4, clinching the second with an inside-out forehand that landed on the junction on baseline and sideline. The Czech served out with little fuss, and didn’t let up.
A third break followed at the start of the second set, the 26-year-old at one point rushing the net off her return for an easy volley, testament to her confidence. Muguruza halted her run at five straight games but lost 11 straight points from 1-3 to slip a further break behind.
With that, the action was academic. Muguruza looked shell-shocked as Pliskova hooked a forehand winner cross-court with the Spaniard serving to stay in the match – to no avail, however, as the Czech wrapped things up in 59 minutes when Muguruza sent a backhand long.
With the sun still setting across MCA, Pliskova departed in plenty of time to settle back and watch Williams oust world No.1 Simona Halep in three sets. Not that her plan would change much for whoever she faced in the last eight.
“For me, nothing changes,” said the world No.8, who comes into the match with a 1-2 record against Williams, having beaten her in the 2016 US Open semifinals. “I have to play my game, so I don't have any plan B, C, D – I know which plan is working, so I just try to play this, and then if it's not working, maybe I’ll try B.
“Of course, if Serena is playing at her best then it's tough, because she can serve, put a lot of pressure on her returns. But she can also miss, so we will see.”