Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 Venus Williams
This match was a thriller between 2 big servers and hard-hitters, with both players able to hit serves that go faster than 115 mph. Their previous encounter was in Zhuhai, where Venus Williams prevailed in a tough 2 sets battle that ended 7-5, 7-6 to capture the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy and secure her place in the Year-end Top 10 rankings last year.
Venus made
the perfect start to the match by holding her serve twice and breaking
Pliskova’s wobbly serve to have a 3-0 lead to have a headstart to the match. Williams
continued being on fire after she broke Pliskova’s serve for the 2nd
time and earn a double break lead to have a 5-1 advantage. Pliskova then went
on a run of hers when she broke twice in a row to come from 5-1 down to return
on serve. Williams then maintained her composure at the end of the set and
stopped the rout when she broke Pliskova’s serve for the third time in the set
to win the set 6-4 and be a set away from a 2nd consecutive
quarterfinal appearance at the US Open.
Williams
went up by a set and a break when she once again made the first breakthrough
after she broke Pliskova thanks to 4 unforced errors from the big-serving
Czech. Nevertheless, Pliskova did not give up then, but instead went on yet another
roll while trailing when she won 4 games in a row to lead 5-3 and go up a
break. Despite Williams holding her serve to stay in the set and give her a
glimpse of hope of winning the set, Pliskova shut down all chances by closing
out the set with a comfortable hold of service.
Pliskova
made the first breakthrough for the first time in the third game when she broke
Williams’ serve after Williams made 4 unforced errors in the game. This also
allowed Pliskova to lead in the scoreboard for the first time in the match. Nevertheless,
the 7 time Grand Slam champion who has been ranked the World No.1 previously
broke back at 4-3 to level the match at 4-4 to make the match all level again. Serving
to stay in the match, Williams managed to earn a match point opportunity on
Pliskova’s serve, but Pliskova managed to save it with an impressive forehand
volley winner. Pliskova managed to overcome the tussle to hold her serve and
keep the match on serve. After an exchange of breaks where we saw Williams
coming from 6-5 40-0 down and break Pliskova’s serve, the winner would be
decided by a tiebreak. Pliskova dominated the tiebreak, taking the lead from
the first point onwards. Being overwhelmed by her own unforced errors, Williams
was unable to make a comeback in the tiebreak, losing it 7-3, and losing the
match in 3 sets after 2 hours and 24 minutes of high-quality tennis. Williams
would have definitely rued that match point opportunity at 4-5, had she
converted it, she would have been the winner of this match.
|
Williams
|
Pliskova
|
|
|
Aces
|
8
|
8
|
|
DFs
|
6
|
5
|
|
1st Serve
|
64%
|
58%
|
|
1st Serve Won
|
64%
|
75%
|
|
2nd Serve Won
|
44%
|
34%
|
|
Break Points
|
6/16
|
6/13
|
|
Net Points
|
19/29
|
10/16
|
|
Winners
|
38
|
33
|
|
Unforced Errors
|
40
|
30
|
|
Points Won
|
106
|
107
|