New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Special times for Pliskova
The sophomore season after standing at the pinnacle makes for heavy going, even for a player seemingly as unflappable as Karolina Pliskova.
The 6 foot-1 Czech burst through to reach her first Grand Slam final at the 2016 US Open, with victories over Venus and Serena Williams, and went on to ascend to the world No. 1 ranking little more than a year ago.
Barring a title run in Stuttgart in April, however, the 26-year-old has struggled to emulate those highs in 2018. After slipping to world No. 8 she acted on her gut instinct. Something had to give.
Since a fourth-round defeat at Wimbledon, there have been a couple of notable off-court changes for the Connecticut Open’s No. 4 seed.
“Only one, my coach,” she offered, before being reminded of her wedding to former Czech television presenter and her agent, Michal Hrdlicka.
“Oh yeah,” she laughed. “My wedding. It was two weeks after Wimbledon. It was great but life hasn’t changed. We’ve been together for three years.”
On the career front, it was a big call to split with coach Tomas Krupa for former doubles world No.1 Rennae Stubbs. Pliskova announced the switch after claiming her first victory in eight meetings with Agnieszka Radwanska in Cincinnati last week.
“I just felt like I need to change, not because of my results, because of how I was feeling and I’ve known Rennae for quite a long time. We'd worked a few weeks together at the end of last year in Singapore,” she said.
“I think it's more the mental side because she's more positive and also she knows every game of every girl because she does stuff for TV so she knows a lot about tennis and she played, which is also a good thing for me. She knows how I feel.
“I'm not the most positive type of person so… I just feel like it's something I need right now.”
Beyond the need for matchplay heading into the US Open, the decision to accept a wild card in New Haven hinged largely on family ties. Her twin sister, the left-handed Krystina Pliskova, was playing.
“My sister is here, which is also important for me as we get to play the same tournament,” Pliskova said. “We'll play doubles together.”
The pair last joined forces on court at Indian Wells in March, when they fell in the first round. Prior to that, their last outing was a semifinal run in Nottingham two years ago.
“We have a great relationship off court, obviously,” Pliskova said. “We're not together that much any more as we used to be because our lives are different now.
“She has a different team and I have different team. Just now I have my husband around me so we're not spending that much time together.
“Now we are even sharing a room after like six years. It's great, at least for a while, to be around her.
“It's always a good opportunity to be on the court with her because it's just fun. I said I only want to play doubles with somebody to just have fun and to practice a little bit. I don't want to get frustrated about doubles… It's better than practice and to be with her, it's always special.”
On Monday, Pliskova will play her first-round match against Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova with the Pliskova sisters also beginning their doubles campaign.
They’re big changes off court and a welcome change sharing a court and a room again with her sister.