Pliskova wins Prague Open as Fed survives Schwartzman test
Murray blasts Rosol on way to Munich semis
PRAGUE, May 2, (Agencies): Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova rallied from a set down to claim her fourth WTA title by defeating qualifier Lucie Hradecka 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-Czech final of the Prague Open on Saturday.
The 14th-ranked Pliskova wasted three match points when she was 5-2 up in the final set. But she served out the match in the following game, converting her fifth match point with a forehand winner.
“It was all about a few points,” Pliskova said. “I’m really happy I managed to win it.” It was the seventh career final for the 74th-ranked Hradecka, but she has lost them all.
Hradecka hit 17 aces to Pliskova’s eight, but also double faulted 10 times.
Pliskova jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second set before wasting two set points at 5-2 and allowed Hradecka to tie it at 55, but she converted her third set point to even the match.
Hradecka got a break for a 5-4 lead in the opening set and converted her second set point when Pliskova sent a backhand return long.
Top seed Roger Federer on Saturday survived a stern test from world number 63 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina to advance into the final of the Istanbul Open after a tense three set encounter.
Federer, 33, looking to win his 85th career title ahead of the French Open, looked rattled all afternoon as he failed to find rhythm on his first serve and even received a rare code violation.
Losing the first set, he eventually prevailed 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, after almost two hours on court.
Showing no sign of nerves in front of his illustrious opponent, Schwartzman, 22, came out fighting in the first set with his double-handed backhand particularly potent.
In a sign of the pressure, the usually mildmannered Federer received a code violation warning from umpire Mohamed Lahyani for whacking the ball away in anger when he failed to convert a break point.
Mixing his game beautifully, Schwartzman more than rivalled Federer’s play with cute drop shots and stunning whipped topspin winners.
After breaking the frail Federer serve twice, he took the first set with ease when the out-of-sorts Swiss world number two tamely netted a return into the net.
Schwartzman came out in the second set with similar aggression but after squandering one break point in the fourth game Federer took his second chance in what proved a turning point.
Turning on the power and with Schwartzman starting to make unforced errors after his glorious first set, Federer raced ahead and took the second set with a service break to love.
With a tough struggle shaping up in the third set, Federer saved two break points in the fifth game, yelling “come on!” and saving his serve with an ace.
But Schwartzman stepped up a gear once more, matching Federer shot for shot in a thrilling finale.
Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Schwartzman saved one match point with another stunning backhand winner.
But Federer then made no mistake as he attacked the Schwartzman serve at 56, taking his first break point chance to close out the game.
In Sunday’s final, Federer will face the winner of the other semi final between second seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.
Top-seeded Andy Murray hit back from a set down to defeat Lukas Rosol 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a bad-tempered quarter-final at the rain-hit Munich Open on Saturday.
Playing in his first tournament since his marriage to long-time girlfriend Kim Sears, Murray led 4-1 in the first set before the Czech Republic’s Rosol turned in a furious rally to take the next five games.
The two players then bumped into each other at the changeover which brought complaints from the Scot and an intervention by the ATP supervisor Gerry Armstrong.
Murray later told Rosol: “No-one likes you on the tour, everyone hates you.”
The world number three, however, quickly shrugged off the altercation to claim 12 of the next 15 games for the win in exactly two hours.
In the last four the Scot will take on tough Spanish third seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who also had to bounce back after a first set loss to beat Vmctor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.
The two other quarter-finals in the second half of the draw see Dominic Thiem take on Gerald Melzer and Philipp Kohlschreiber go up against David Goffin.
Torrential rain washed out all four quarter-finals on Friday, leaving both the quarter-finals and semis to be played on Saturday.
Murray will seek his second head-tohead victory over Bautista Agut in the semis, having previously triumphed in straight sets in the Wimbledon third round last year.
The Spaniard is in search of his second clay-court title, having won his maiden tour-level title on German soil in Stuttgart in 2014.