The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Pliskovas relish chance to play together
NEW HAVEN — Whether it was the weather, the opponent, or a spate of bad luck, Karolina Pliskova bowed out of singles play at the Connecticut Open much sooner than anyone expected. Ekaterina Makarova needed only 58 minutes on Monday to knock off the No. 8 player in the world, 6-1, 6-3.
“The tournament, the conditions here, I just don’t feel good about,” Pliskova said Tuesday during an appearance at the Courtside Club. “Some tournaments are like this. I had a tough opponent, so that doesn’t help. Hopefully next time it will be better.”
While Pliskova has battled inconsistency this season, winning just one tournament since April, she knows fortunes can change in a hurry on the WTA. A strong showing at a Grand Slam like the U.S. Open, which is on tap for next week, can be the perfect medicine for a mercurial player.
“I know my game is sometimes a little bit up and down,” Pliskova said. “I’m not that sad (about my first-round loss). I’m just disappointed about not being able to get some wins here.”
Pliskova, 26, is eager to produce a better result in New York, however, she won’t leave the Elm City just yet. She and her twin sister, Kristyna, are onto to the next round of doubles play after defeating Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck of Belarus, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 10-6, on Monday.
Karolina and Kristyna — the No. 96 player in the world, who did not make her scheduled appearance on Tuesday — rarely compete in the same tournaments, making the chances they do get to play together all the more meaningful.
“When we get the chance to play together, it’s amazing,” Karolina said. “Our
schedules are completely different now. We play in different tournaments and we don’t spend much time together anymore. It’s just amazing that we can at least be on the court here. … She has different friends than me so we don’t play that often.”
In fact, Karolina and Kristyna went three years without playing doubles together before teaming up at Indian Wells in March.
“We have a really good relationship off the court, so it’s more about having fun than anything else,” Karolina said.
These are opportunities for Karolina to step out of the intense spotlight that can surround one of the top players in the world. Karolina, who is 33-15 in singles play with one tournament victory this year, has found herself vigorously chasing the No. 1 ranking that she lost last season to Garbine Muguruza.
“Sometimes I get frustrated, I wanted to be better this year,” she said prior to the start of the Open. “I was lucky to win a couple of matches the beginning of last year — sometimes you don’t know how you win a match, you just win.”
Shortly after losing that top spot, Karolina announced that she had parted ways with her longtime coach David Kotyza, whom she won three titles under. Within the last month, she began working with Rennae Stubbs, a multiple-time Grand Slam champion.
This week, however, she’ll likely lean on her sister for advice.
“We talk about a lot of stuff,” Karolina said. “If we have a chance to give some advice to the other one, we do it. We sometimes practice with each other, so we share a lot of things.”