Dubai: Karolina Pliskova Interview
An interview with Karolina Pliskova before her opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An interview with Karolina Pliskova before her opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
DUBAI, UAE – No.38-ranked American Alison Riske took out her compatriot and No.11 seed CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets to move into the second round at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, 6-4, 6-4.
Playing in their first match since teaming up for Fed Cup, the pair squared off for the eighth time (across all levels) with Riske leading 1-0 in their WTA head-to-head record.
“It can be difficult [to play a friend], especially we just had the best week together at Fed Cup. So it was unfortunate that we played each other first round,” Riske told press after the match.
“But at the end of the day you have to focus on you, and there are so many Americans now in the top. We are all friends, or at least I feel like we are.
“We’re going to beat each other week in and week out, and it’s something that we’ve got to get used to.”
First set ? @Riske4rewards!
Leads Vandeweghe 6-4! #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/mPvseYCyFJ
— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017
Riske kept the Australian Open semifinalist out of her comfort zone throughout the match, taking the pace off the ball and absorbing Vandeweghe’s powerful shots, redirecting it all back at the No.21-ranked American.
Vandeweghe gave up the first break of the match with a double fault – one of the 11 she’d hit during the match – to give Riske a 4-3 lead. Riske weathered back to back breaks of serve as the pair wrestled for momentum towards the end, before taking the opening set on her serve.
The frustration continued to mount for Vandeweghe, who dropped her serve to start the second set and give Riske another early lead. The No.38-ranked American kept her nose in front after a flurry of four straight breaks, comfortably serving out the match to love – aided by a pair of Vandeweghe’s 58 unforced errors.
.@Riske4rewards shocks Vandeweghe 6-4, 6-4 in @DDFTennis First round! pic.twitter.com/p69r3mRHJl
— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2017
“I think she was having a little difficulty with her first serves,” Riske assessed. “But she was starting to get back in rhythm in the second set there. I feel if I had let up just a little bit, things could have changed.
“I was definitely proud of myself for staying in there and still dictating as best I could and not giving her an inch to come back.”
Awaiting Riske in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will be Anastasija Sevastova, who cruised past Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets.
Dominika Cibulkova has long played David to a tour of Goliaths. The Slovakian dynamo found fertile soil early in her career and promptly began planting seeds; her garden is a veritable who’s who of the game’s biggest and brightest.
She rode that role right into a Singapore debut, where she broke new ground by winning the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, stunning then-No.1 Angelique Kerber in the championship match.
Starting 2017 in full bloom therefore marks a colossal shift for Cibulkova, who is suddenly tasked with preventing the very chaos she once strived to create.
“I felt good in Australia but this is a new position for me, being World No.5,” she said during All-Access Hour at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. “I really have to work on myself every day, especially mentally.
“There are some players who come onto the court a bit differently against you. They have nothing to lose and want to beat you. This is something I’m really trying to adjust to, that and the expectations – not just my own, but also those of the people around me.”
Expectation undoubtedly bogged her down in Brisbane and Sydney, but it was after a run to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy that the wilting Slovak decided to reassess, stepping down from her perennial spot on the Fed Cup team.
“I got really negative on the court in St. Petersburg,” she said of her loss to Yulia Putintseva, “and that was my biggest disappointment from that match; maybe the expectation got too big for me.
“It’s good that I didn’t play Fed Cup so I could really have time to prepare for Doha. It helped me a lot and that’s why I played so well there. I’d always feel tired after a tie, but that’s something you have to accept if you decide to play Fed Cup. You have to know you won’t be completely ready for the next tournament.”
Cibulkova has been an absolute stalwart in national competition – playing a whopping 21 ties in 12 years – and admitted the annual decision to compete often adversely affected her schedule.
“It would be easier if the event could all take place at a reasonable date, but, for example, last week Slovakia played Italy on clay. That wouldn’t make sense for my schedule at all.
“Now that I’m older and more mature, I see that my career isn’t going to last forever. Right now, I feel like I can get my best ranking and reach my best results. I have to selfish.”
That desire for further introspection led her to step up her work with sports psychologist Radko Sevcík, who joined her team about two years ago and has been crucial to improving her big match mindset.
“I had my mental coach with me in Doha and we talked a lot about different things, how I should approach practices and matches, and how to be more positive on the court.”
The positivity paid off; Cibulkova reached the final four at the Qatar Total Open – the first of her career – and earned her 400th career match win in impressive style over an old nemesis.
“I felt good on the court. I beat Samantha Stosur, whom I’d never beaten before in my career. That gave me much more confidence, and even though I lost to Karolina Pliskova, it was a great match and I was really close to winning.
“After Doha, I feel like I’m playing really well.”
The first big test of that assertion will come early; Cibulkova will kick off Dubai campaign against Ekaterina Makarova, who won their most recent meeting at this year’s Australian Open.
All photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Belinda Bencic is back into the second round of Wimbledon after a solid victory over Tsvetana Pironkova; Eugenie Bouchard also grabbed a win over Magdalena Rybarikova.
The WTA’s Top 10 stayed in place after a week in Doha, which saw World No.3 Karolina Pliskova take home the title at the Qatar Total Open. But there were plenty of shifts for players right on the bubble, as a pair of former Top 5 players continued to chip away at their rankings.
Here are the biggest ranking movers this week after Doha:
Caroline Wozniacki +3 (No.18 to 15): Former World No.1 Wozniacki continued her comeback during the WTA’s Middle East Swing, storming to the final at the Qatar Total Open and posting wins over Monica Puig and No.6 Agnieszka Radwanska along the way.
The last time Wozniacki was ranked inside the Top 10 was in September 2015 (No.6), and with her strong showing in Doha she’s vaulted up to No.15 and closing in on a return to the game’s highest echelons.
“I feel like I’m playing really good tennis. I can still improve on some things,” Wozniacki told press after the final in Doha. “I’m really feeling positive and confident moving forward, and most of all I’m just trying to stay healthy.
“When I’m staying healthy, I can play great tennis. I can work really hard and improve my game. I’ve really put in a lot of work. It’s shown in the results. Hopefully I can keep up my level and keep improving.”
Samantha Stosur + 2 (No.21 to 19): Earlier in the season at Taipei City, Stosur halted a dismal trend of first round losses dating back to August 2016 that saw her ranking – and her confidence – take a dip. Now, the former Grand Slam champion is back inside the Top 20 after a run to her second consecutive WTA quarterfinal in Qatar.
Monica Puig +5 (No.47 to 42): Olympic champion Puig jumped up five spots to No.42 after an appearance in the semifinals in Doha. The run will do wonders for the Puerto Rican’s confidence: aside from regaining her world-beating form to put together dominating performances over Laura Siegemund and Daria Kasatkina, it’s the first semifinal Puig has reached since her fairy tale run to the gold medal at the Olympic tennis event in Rio.
Lauren Davis +9 (No.55 to 46): The 23-year-old American continued to back up the form that saw her claim her maiden WTA title earlier in the season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Davis successfully qualified for the main draw at the Qatar Total Open, and went on to stun No.6 seed Elena Vesnina on her way to the quarterfinals, earning her first Top 20 win of the year.
Her season-long consistency has paid off, earning her a ranking jump to inside the Top 50, landing at No.46 – just three spots shy of her career high No.43.
Click here to check out the updated WTA rankings, as of February 6.
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