Svetlana
Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) Karolina Pliskova
Svetlana
Kuznetsova’s dream run continues after surviving a tough battle against the US
Open finalist Karolina Pliskova. She came from *6-5 *30-0 down in the final set
to win the match and progress to the semifinals for the first time in her
career after 5 failed attempts.
Both
players held their serves until the 4th game, where Kuznetsova was
broken by Pliskova’s strong forehands. However, Kuznetsova broke back 3 games
later to keep the set on serve, but failed to consolidate her serve after it was
yet again broken by Pliskova on a double fault. Pliskova then managed to hold
to love to serve out the set in which Kuznetsova hit 8 more errors than
winners.
Pliskova
broke Kuznetsova’s serve in the opening game, but Kuznetsova bounced back to win
4 straight games to lead 4-1. Pliskova stopped the rout with a tough hold
despite being 15-30 down and close to being broken for a third straight time.
Kuznetsova then held to love and broke Pliskova’s serve for the fourth time to
clinch the set. In this set, Kuznetsova managed to hit 70% of first serves in.
Kuznetsova
started the final set with a tough hold, and managed to break Pliskova’s serve
to lead 2-0. However, she failed to consolidate the break as Pliskova managed
to break back with a strong backhand winner. Kuznetsova’s good form continued
as she managed to break yet again, and this time she managed to consolidate her
break to lead 4-1 in the final set and inch close to victory. Pliskova once
again almost lost her serve at 1-4, but regained her composure to hold her
serve and had the momentum with her after she broke Kuznetsova’s serve at love
to remain on serve in the set. In this match with many momentum changes,
Kuznetsova broke Pliskova once more in a very tough game which allowed her to
lead 5-3 and serve for the match. However, known for her comeback from 5-2 down
in the final set against Muguruza, Pliskova won 3 straight games and looked
like she was going to win the match after coming from behind again, Kuznetsova
won 4 straight points from nowhere at *6-5 *30-0 to bring the set into a
tiebreak. Kuznetsova cruised through the tiebreak and had 3 match points at
6-3, but Pliskova once again pegged back to 6-6. Kuznetsova visibly looked
tired, but took her 4th match point at 7-6 with an awesome backhand
winner that was unreachable by Pliskova.