Pliskova faces toughest match – against twin sister

STUTTGART, Germany: Former world number one Karolina Pliskova admitted Sunday that the prospect of facing and defeating twin sister Kristyna next week fills her with dread.

“I think the match will look shit — because when we play together it’s always bad,” said the 26-yearold Czech who will face Kristyna for the first time on the main WTA Tour on home ground in Prague.

Karolina, now ranked at six in the world, said she had no desire to defeat her 72nd-ranked twin whose career has been overshadowed by a sister who was runner-up at the US Open in 2016 and whose title triumph in Stuttgart on Sunday took her trophy tally to 10.

Kristyna has one title on her CV from Tashkent in 2016 and has career earnings of just under US$2 million compared to Monte Carlobased Karolina’s US$11 million.

“I had this match in my head since yesterday (when the draw was made). It’s the only thing what I’m thinking from yesterday and today, what are we going to do, how are we going to play? It’s unfortunate,” added Karolina after defeating CoCo Vandeweghe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 in Sunday’s final in Stuttgart.

“It’s in Prague. Well, thank God it’s not a Grand Slam but still there’s going to be hundreds of people coming to watch.

“It’s bad quality because we know each other and there is some pressure and nerves or whatever and I don’t really want to beat my sister.”

The sisters have never met in the main draw on the main tour — although Kristyna won a qualifying clash at Eastbourne five years ago — but played each other eight times on the secondlevel ITF circuit, with four wins apiece.