Karolina Pliskova dominated Alize Cornet 6-0, 6-3 en route to the title at the Brisbane International. The Frenchwoman had played brilliantly all week to get to the final but was outclassed by an inspired Pliskova.
Masterclass First Set From Pliskova
The pair had only met once before in Guangzhou back in 2013. Cornet won a tight first set before putting a “bagel” on the Czech in the second set. Pliskova only dropped one set before the final, and that was to Roberta Vinci. For Cornet, she defeated a strong contingent including Dominika Cibulkova, Garbine Muguruza (retired), as well as Elena Vesnina.
The Frenchwoman started the match serving and already fell into a 15-40 hole. The Pliskova forehand was firing early on and had Cornet on the defensive, and she would hit a forehand well long to give the first break and game of the match to Pliskova.
After a hold, the US Open finalist broke again and consolidated for a 4-0 lead. One more break put her up 5-0, but the Frenchwoman was not going down without a fight. Two consecutive points, including a swinging volley winner at 15-all made it 15-30 as the crowd was getting behind the underdog in this match. The Czech was just too dominant though as a huge serve followed by an easy swinging backhand volley gave her the opening set 6-0.
Cornet Makes Pliskova Work But Falls In The End
Once again, Cornet would serve first. She would hold serve this time around as the crowd roared in order to inspire the Frenchwoman to try and get her going. Despite the efforts of Cornet and the Brisbane crowd, Pliskova stamped her authority on the second set with a break at love after Cornet sprayed a backhand long.
The Czech was made to battle to hold in the fourth game but did the job without facing a break point. Cornet’s craftiness with her drop shots kept Pliskova on her toes, but it was still not enough to get the elusive break point opportunity that she needed to try and get back into the set.
In the ninth game, Cornet served to stay in the match. She saved one match point at 30-40 but was not fortunate to be able to stop Pliskova on her second try. Cornet played the drop shot after the Czech’s return, but Pliskova hit a deep backhand return forcing Cornet to lob in desperation. Pliskova put away the overhead to clinch the title.
Pliskova Speaks After Her Title
While speaking to the press, the Czech said that she did dominate in the first set but lost a bit of her speed in the second set. She was still content with her efforts though with two breaks. She finished off that saying with matches and practices, she hasn’t had an off day in 10 days and hopes to rest then prepare for the Australian Open.