It’s all about me, says cucumber cool Pliskova

MELBOURNE: Karolina Pliskova may have been somewhat confused by being compared to a cucumber after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open but she was crystal clear about what she needed to do to go a step further.

The sixth seed burnt the midnight oil in her all-Czech fourth round grudge match against Barbara Strycova, finally clinching a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory at 1.35 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning.

The pair fell out last year when coach Tomas Krupa switched from Strycova to Pliskova, with David Kotyza later moving the other way.

Pliskova was clearly a little nonplussed when the on-court presenter described her as “cool as a cucumber”, later explaining she had never heard the expression. “I don’t know if this is something from Australia?” Pliskova said with a smile, before agreeing that she had not been particularly bothered about going a set down.

“I was fine. Obviously the first set took me some energy, some power. I had some chances. I didn’t play well on them,” the 25-year-old added. “She didn’t play anything, like, any perfect shot. Everything was my mistake. Next time I knew I had to play everything better.” More reports @ timesofoman.com/sports