Karolina Pliskova heads to the US Open as the 10th seed and at the back of winning her first career Premier title. Despite having not progressed beyond the third round in any of her Grand Slams so far, the Czech may fancy her chances this time round.
Notable results to date
Pliskova had a breakthrough 2015 but she topped that having clinched two titles already this season. After a slow start to the season, she picked herself up in Indian Wells showing flashes of her form before just falling short to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals.
Her season took a dip again but her best results were yet to happen. She found her form on grass where the Czech claimed her first title of the year at Nottingham having to come through tough wins. She then followed it up with a doubles title in Birmingham. Her run did not stop there though as she made the finals in Eastbourne as well. However, her opponent Dominika Cibulkova played lights out tennis to eventually claim the title.
As the hard court swing began, Pliskova notched her biggest win of the year defeating Angelique Kerber in emphatic style for her biggest title at Cincinnati. In the process, she also stopped the German from claiming the top spot in the rankings.
Best hard court results leading up to Flushing Meadows
Having sat out the Olympics, the Czech began her US Open preparation in Montréal. She only made the round of 16 before losing out to Simona Halep in straight sets. It was not such a bad loss considering the Romanian went on to win the whole thing.
Pliskova, however, saved some of her best tennis for Cincinnati coming out guns blazing to reach the finals dropping just one set with her brand of tennis. She took out Garbiñe Muguruza in straight sets before setting up a meeting with world number two, Kerber. Coupled with her big serves and flat hard forehands, Pliskova was just too good thumping out a 6-3, 6-1 victory for the title.
Best US Open result
Pliskova hasn’t been able to perform as well at Grand Slams when compared to other tournaments. Her best result at the Flushing Meadows came in 2014 where she reached the third round ranked 42 and taking out eighth seed Ana Ivanovic in the second round. That was a big win for her, but she was not able to sustain the momentum losing out to Casey Dellacqua in three sets.
How Pliskova's game translates to the surface
Her game is naturally made for hard courts with the way her forehands skid off the surface. Equipped with one of the best serves in the game right now, they give her free points and can come to her aid when facing break points. She demonstrated this in Cincinnati so well and it could be her big weapon once again. Against good defensive players, she will have to do quite a bit of running but the Czech has shown she has improved that aspect of her game.
Being placed in perhaps the best quarter of the draw, it is a good time for the 24-year-old to go all out at the last slam of the year.