News | WTA Tennis English

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

Tuesday

Quarterfinals

[2] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #3) vs. [26] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO #29)
Head-to-head: Tied, 3-3
Key Stat: Pliskova and Lucic-Baroni have played three-setters in each of their last three meetings.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni has already matched her total of Top 10 wins from the previous four seasons by notching three in 2017 and, on Sunday, the 35-year-old will try to make it four when she meets No.2 seed Karolina Pliskova in her first Miami Open quarterfinal.

Pliskova, who is in the Miami quarterfinals for the second time, knows it will be a challenge. She was knocked off by Lucic-Baroni in January, falling 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to the Croatian in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, and their last three battles have all gone the distance.

“She’s always tough,” Pliskova told WTA Insider on Monday after easing past Barbora Strycova in straight sets. “She has a big game and it was close in Australia.”

The head-to-head points to a toss-up but Pliskova comes in as the favorite based on her ranking and the expectations she has set by becoming one of the most lethal players in the last 52 weeks. Now the No.1 Czech, Pliskova is expected to come through these types of matches and she certainly has the game to do it. But how can she keep her veteran opponent off balance so that her blistering groundstrokes don’t take over the match? It’s a task that has proved difficult for many this season and it will be interesting to see how Pliskova approaches playing Lucic-Baroni from a tactical perspective.

Lucic-Baroni, meanwhile, will approach the challenge of facing Pliskova’s game with no fear. She’s playing some of the best tennis of her life – why shouldn’t the fairytale continue?

“It’s always nice when you beat a top player and then beat them again not too long after, so it’s not a ‘fluke,'” Lucic-Baroni said last week in Miami after defeating No.5-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska for the second time this season. “I know people like to say stupid things sometimes. But I don’t pay attention to that. I know I can play some great tennis and that’s really all I care about doing.”

Pick: Pliskova in three

[12] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN #14) vs. Lucie Safarova (CZE #36)
Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads, 4-3
Key Stat: Wozniacki’s 21 victories in 2017 place her second on tour.

Caroline Wozniacki is back in the last eight of the Miami Open for the fifth time overall and the first time since 2014, and the Dane faces a former Top 10 player on the rise in Lucie Safarova. The Czech secured her first Top 10 win since 2015 when she defeated World No.4 Dominika Cibulkova on Monday in straight sets. If that doesn’t give you an idea of what type of form the 30-year-old Czech is in, consider this: Safarova’s 16 wins in the first three months of the season are already more than she had in all of 2016. She has yet to drop a set this week and has reached the Miami Open quarterfinals for the first time on her 12th career appearance.

Can the southpaw take it a step further and shut down Wozniacki on Tuesday? It will be a difficult task. Wozniacki has won three of her last four against Safarova and is running hot as she prepares to play her sixth quarterfinal of the season. The match will likely hinge on how well Wozniacki can implement her return tactics against Safarova’s serve. The Czech entered the tournament ranked fourth in percentage of service games won this season, while Wozniacki ranked No.6 in percentage of return games won.

Pick: Wozniacki in three

By the Numbers
4 – Number of wins that Lucic-Baroni notched at Miami from 1998 to 2016. She will try to win her fourth match of the 2017 tournament against Pliskova.
22 – Pliskova took over the WTA lead in wins for 2017 with her 22nd win on Monday.
9 – Number of times that Caroline Wozniacki has reached at least the quarterfinal in her last ten tournaments.
16 – Lucie Safarova’s 16 wins (16-6) in 2017 have already surpassed her win total for all of 2016 (15-18).

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