Pliskova reaches Dubai semis
Karolina Pliskova, the 22-year-old who is part of a new wave on the women’s tour, upset the seedings for a second time at the Dubai Open to reach the semifinals yesterday. Pliskova also turned a surprising match dramatically on its head, going from a set and 1-3 down to win 3-6 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 over her 11th seeded compatriot Lucie Safarova. Last week the Czech with one of the steepest and most dangerous first serves in the game reached the Antwerp semis, and last month she became the youngest top 20 player by breaking into the top score for the first time. However, yesterday Pliskova had to survive a crisis at 5-5 in the second set when she slipped to 15-40, within one solid blow of probable defeat, before she changed the psychology of the match in the last point of the tie-break.