Pliskova routs Cornet for Brisbane title; Raonic eliminated in semifinal
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Karolina Pliskova won all but five points in the first six games to set up a 6-0, 6-3 rout of Alize Cornet in the Brisbane International final on Saturday, setting an ominous tone for the first Grand Slam.
The U.S. Open finalist will move to a career-high No. 5 ranking for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 16, after winning her first Brisbane title and seventh on the WTA tour.
The first set lasted less than 20 minutes, with third-seeded Pliskova not dropping a point on serve until the last game. Cornet, who was unseeded and ranked No. 41, didn’t get on the scoreboard until she held to open the second set.
“I didn’t miss in almost the whole first set,” Pliskova said. “Yeah, I was feeling pretty good.”
Cornet said she couldn’t get a read on Pliskova’s serve, rating it as more difficult to handle than that of 22-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.
Pliskova is “serving really, really well. I mean, I played Serena a few times, and I could always be able to return a first serve . . . somehow,” Cornet said. “When you have a serve like this, it’s such a weapon. It’s pretty much a nightmare, actually.”
Pliskova had a breakout season in 2016, reaching her first Grand Slam final — beating both Venus and Serena Williams before losing to Angelique Kerber at the U.S. Open — and helping the Czech Republic win the Fed Cup.
On the men’s side, Milos Raonic’s title defence ended in a 7-6 (7), 6-2 semifinal loss to Grigor Dimitrov, who will play third-seeded Kei Nishikori in today’s final.
Dimitrov fended off set point in the tiebreaker and converted his own moments later. He broke Raonic’s serve twice in the second set.
Raonic didn’t blame a late finish on Friday in his quarter-final win over Rafael Nadal, or the toll that playing the 14-time Grand Slam winner took on his body. Dimitrov “made it obviously very difficult (and) I didn’t turn around and bring the performance I needed to bring,” Raonic said. “I was just a tidbit slow.”
Raonic made the semifinals at the Australian Open last year, reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, and finished the year ranked No. 3. But he hasn’t won a title since his success in Brisbane last year. He thinks his preparation can change that in 2017.
“I’m on that right track,” he said. “I feel like if I can avoid that hiccup, I can have a very, very good time in Melbourne.”
Nishikori beat U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (3), 6-3 to reach the Brisbane final for the first time, ending a run of three semifinal defeats. He has a 3-0 record against Dimitrov.