‘We have enough money. So many people need it more than us’
Pliskova’s charitable side offers a window into her motivation ahead of Wimbledon campaign ‘If I don’t play well at one grand slam I know there’s another a couple of months away’
It is when the subject matter shifts from tennis that Karolina Pliskova finally relaxes. The former world No1’s reticence in our interview is understandable. The Wimbledon grass courts have not provided her with warm anecdotes to retell – she is yet to progress beyond the second round in six attempts – so the 26-year-old seventh seed is not gushing about the impending championships.
The reflection on her most recent high-profile act of smashing a racket and making a hole in the umpire’s seat at the Italian Open is not top on her list of topics either. The moment landed her with a hefty fine and sparked her identical twin sister, Kristyna – herself in the top 80 – to launch a broadside on Twitter against umpire Marta Mrozinska for a botched line call.
“I don’t look back at all,” Pliskova told The Daily Telegraph of her behaviour in Rome, which cost her a four-figure fine. “It’s nothing. It’s just you break a racket. I did it as I had a bad call from the umpire and that’s it for me. The thing is over.”
It was what Pliskova did after this indiscretion which offers a window into what drives her. The Czech donated to charity the same amount of money she had been fined, which has become a common theme throughout her career. She set up her own foundation last June, while at last year’s US
Open she donated €200 (£153) for every ace hit to the paediatric haematology and oncology department of Motol University Hospital in Prague. For every ace she sends down at Wimbledon – and as a player dubbed the “ace queen” by the WTA, there should be plenty – a further sum of money will be donated to another worthy cause.
“I think we have enough [money] so I just wanted to help some way, somehow,” Pliskova said. “There are so many people in the world who need money more than us. Every year I put something into it. Every year I have a tournament in Czech Republic, so there are a lot of things I’m trying to do. Sometimes the money goes toward children, sometimes it’s for wheelchair tennis players. I try to change it so everybody gets something.
“There are not many players, I think that do this. I feel that there should be more. We have quite good money, we have a good life and there are so many people who don’t get a chance to have a good life.” Pliskova, who has won 10 WTA singles titles including this year’s Stuttgart Open, a win which earned her a Porsche despite not yet holding a drivers’ licence, topped the aces leaderboard last year, serving up 452 in 69 matches.
Her big-serving and heavy groundstrokes are ideally suited to grass, and titles in Nottingham in 2016 and Eastbourne in 2017 – a defence she lost in the quarterfinals yesterday – made her the pre-wimbledon favourite in the absence of Serena Williams last summer. But defeat to eventual semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova added to her growing list of early exits at SW19.
“In the last few years I just haven’t played well there,” Pliskova said. “You need to have a little bit of luck with the draw and you need to be playing well. Hopefully this year will be different. I’m not defending many points. I think if I have a better draw, then I have a chance of doing well.”
Her sister has fonder memories of Wimbledon. The older of the pair by two minutes – but at least distinguishable from Karolina by being left-handed and having lighter blonde hair – she won the girls’ title back in 2010 to follow her sister’s own junior success in Australia earlier that year. In Austria five years ago, they became the first set of twins to win a women’s doubles title.
While their careers have taken different paths since, they remain supportive of each other’s progress – as witnessed by Kristyna’s outspoken reaction to the bad line call that led to Karolina’s rush of blood to the head in Rome.
“The worst I have ever seen @ wta and I hope this lady Marta Mrozinska will never ever judge any match of me or Karolina again #blacklistforever”, she wrote on Twitter.
The sisters will not be sharing a house at Wimbledon as they concentrate on their own plans and schedules – which, for Karolina, means focusing on getting through the opening round.
It has not proved an obstacle at the other slams. She reached the 2016 US Open final, last year’s semi-final at Roland Garros and has twice reached the last eight of the Australian Open.
“Normally my goal is to get past the first round because that’s the hardest,” Pliskova said. “When you get to a tournament everybody wants to do well, especially against a seeded player. So that’s the toughest part, to get past the first round. Then there is a big chance I will play well in the tournament.
“I don’t put myself under huge pressure because if I don’t play well at one grand slam, I know there’s another one just a couple of months away. I know I will have more chances in my life so I just go into them with less pressure than I did before.”