NEW YORK: Karolina Pliskova vowed not to turn her back on her all-or-nothing game despite it falling short in her three-set defeat to Angelique Kerber in Saturday’s US Open final.
The 24-year-old Czech lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to the new world number one but she came tantalisingly close to a maiden Grand Slam win when she led 3-1 with a break in the decider.
In the end, however, her 47 unforced errors — a consequence of her big-hitting approach — compared to Kerber’s meagre 17 proved her undoing.
“You have the pressure that she’s gonna ace you four times in a game, but you still have to be aggressive and hit winners, otherwise I cannot be the one who is running with her,” said Pliskova.
“I cannot play 30 times across the net. It’s gonna just kill me. I just have to go for my shots.”
Pliskova said that the fact Kerber is left-handed was also a key factor. It’s a style that she found hard to counter even though her twin sister Kristyna, a fellow player on the tour, is also left-handed.
“I didn’t play a lefty girl in this tournament. She’s always serving to the backhand. You cannot do much from it. Then she has the whole court open,” said Pliskova.
{{/usCountry}}“I didn’t play a lefty girl in this tournament. She’s always serving to the backhand. You cannot do much from it. Then she has the whole court open,” said Pliskova.
{{/usCountry}}“There aren’t many left-handed girls in the top 100, so there is no time where you can practice against a lefty. It’s always tough to play them.”
POSITIVES Despite her loss, Pliskova had plenty of positives to look back on.
Before New York, she had never gone beyond the third round of a Slam in 17 attempts.
Her victory over Venus Williams in the fourth round, which she described as a tougher assignment than beating 22-time Slam winner Serena in the semis, required her to save a match point.
Her conquest of both sisters made her just the fourth player to do so at a Grand Slam.
“I beat very good players. To win in Cincinnati was the biggest title of my career,” she said. “I’m not gonna think about losing, I could be the winner today. Was just about a few points. I will just take the positives and move forward.”