INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – Kristyna Pliskova is ready to make her mark. As her twin sister No.3 Karolina Pliskova enjoyed a breakout season in 2016, Kristyna quietly carved her own path, grinding away on the ITF Circuit to break into the Top 100, capping off her season with her first title at the Tashkent Open.
Kristyna has continued to build on the momentum gained during her 2016 finish, having notched quality wins over the first three months of the season. She took Johanna Konta to three sets at the Shenzhen Open in January, beat Roberta Vinci in at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and steamrolled Daria Kasatkina in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open, winning 6-0, 6-3.
Asked whether she was surprised by how easily she dispatched the No.33 seed, Kristyna spoke with the same candor and self-awareness as her sister.
“Not really because I know how I can play and this wasn’t even my best,” she said. “So I’m not that surprised. Of course, I’m happy because it was easy, by the score at least.”
“When I play fast (with power) it’s very difficult [for my opponents] to put everything in. Especially with [my] serve.”
Kristyna’s power game in built around that lefty serve. She holds the record for most aces fired in a match, hitting 31 against Monica Puig at the 2016 Australian Open. It’s an obvious difference from Karolina’s right-handed game, but it’s also the most significant, one that compels both sisters to insist that their games are different.
There’s just something about Czech lefties. Growing up together, Kristyna was the more highly-touted of the twins, and she made good on the hype when she won the 2010 Wimbledon junior title; Karolina won the Australian Open junior title that same year. En route, Kristyna beat the likes of Sloane Stephens and Yulia Putintseva, and later became the first of the sisters to crack the Top 100 on the WTA rankings.
But the pro game brought different challenges, and it took Kristyna longer to find a level of consistency to build her ranking.
She finally got traction after the US Open. “I changed coaches because I spent a couple of months alone and it wasn’t working,” Kristyna told WTA Insider earlier this season. “I had no one to travel with. I went once with my father, once with my fitness coach, and it was a mess.
“During the US Open I found one coach, Martin Fassate. He was with Klara Koukalova and Petra Cetkovska, but Petra is injured. He has a lot of experience. He is really, really, really positive. That’s good for me. So we agreed to try in China. We won two tournaments out of three. Not bad.”
“I think I’m improving [my] standard level,” she told reporters in Indian Wells. “So I’m not going one tournament good and then three tournaments, first round, which is perfect for me. I’m happy, but I need more matches with the Top 10 players so I can get used to them a bit too. I think out of the Top 20 and Top 30, I think I’m fine. Not every time, but I feel confident with them. But I think Top 10 is different so we will see on Sunday.”
On Sunday she takes on World No.5 Dominika Cibulkova, who survived a tough test against Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, winning in three sets. It will be her sixth career match against a Top 10 player and she’ll be looking for her first complete match win (she beat Belinda Bencic by retirement last year in Miami).
“I’ve never played her,” Kristyna said. “I will ask Karolina, maybe she will say something. But she has a bad [head-to-head] against her too. So maybe I’ll just stick to my plan. I think last time she won, but, like, five times she lost. Maybe I won’t even ask,” she said, laughing.
Asked whether she thinks playing a Top 10 player is a big jump up, Kristyna said it was more about the mental game. “I played Angelique Kerber in Melbourne and when you go there and play No.1, I just had that in my mind. So she had the first set for free because I had this in my mind.
“I don’t think they play any different level, especially with the girls it can change the ranking a lot,” she said. If you play Serena it’s different. But all the other players I think everybody can beat everybody.”
“My goal is to reach Top 20, but it’s not going to be easy I know, because I have a lot of points to defend in October. But that’s my goal for now.”
Kristyna may be champing at the bit to pit her game against the the game’s best, but there’s definitely one player she’s perfectly happy to avoid.
“Not my sister!”
The two have yet to play a tour-level match and were actually slated to potentially face off in the third round at Indian Wells, before Serena Williams withdrew and Karolina was shifted to a different quarter. It was a change that drew a sigh of relief from both sisters, who dreaded the thought of a showdown. That match may not happen here in Indian Wells, but with Kristyna’s continuing rise it will surely come sooner rather than later.
Asked point blank whether she thought she was as good as Karolina, Kristyna did not flinch. “Yes, I do. Maybe better.”
Quick hits with Kristyna Pliskova:
WTA Insider: When did you first know you were good at tennis?
Kristyna: Well, I knew it since I was very little [laughs]. You just know. You just feel it, you can see it how you play. You never know when you’re 10 if you’re going to be really good. A lot of things can change. But when you play, you can feel it.
WTA Insider: When did you believe you could play tennis for a living?
Kristyna: With Karolina we were always traveling with mom since we were really small. We played a 10Ks in Croatia, where there were 128 in qualies. We had to win four rounds, I think? We always fought and we always knew were going to play, even if we made it when we were 18 or 19. I think we always believed.
WTA Insider: What was it like to transition from juniors to pros?
Kristyna: For us, I think it was better because we didn’t play that many junior tournaments. We played, since we were 16, 10ks, 25k ITF tournaments. So it really wasn’t that big of a change. The one year we played Grand Slams was just fun for us.
WTA Insider: What’s your favorite tournament?
Kristyna: Australian Open. It’s big. I like space. And the weather is nice and the staff is so nice.
WTA Insider: What tournament do you look forward to playing that you haven’t played?
Kristyna: I hope I can play Fed Cup one day. I think it can be soon.
WTA Insider: What do you like least about being a pro tennis player?
Kristyna: What I don’t like? I don’t like changing the food when we go from different countries. I’m just used to eating what my mom cooks, or what I cook, or what my boyfriend cooks.
WTA Insider: Do you have any hobbies?
Kristyna: I like shopping.
WTA Insider: Who’s worse, you or Karolina?
Kristyna: I think she’s winning now so she she just buys, and buys, and buys. We went shopping the other day and she had like six bags and I had like four bags. I’m thinking more about the money [laughs]. But we are both bad.
WTA Insider: Do you have any favorite TV shows?
Kristyna: I’m watching The Bridge right now. When I can I like to read something or drawing. It’s more like coloring. It’s good for my mind. I’m not really into sightseeing. If I do something I go shopping, but not going places. But at home I like to go to my parents. They live outside the city and they have some animals. My father has some chickens and rabbits. I help to take care of them. I like nature.
WTA Insider: What app on your phone do you use the most?
Kristyna: WhatsApp. Definitely.
WTA Insider: Who do you text the most?
Kristyna: My boyfriend. And then Karolina. During tournaments we don’t text much. We try to talk a lot but we have different schedules. When we are home, kind of a lot. But with boyfriends, it’s different because they get mad [laughs].
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
