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Karolina Pliskova routs Alize Cornet, wins in Brisbane, pulls out of Sydney
Karolina Pliskova, the US Open finalist will move to a career-high No. 5 ranking for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 16, seems to have picked up a niggle during victorious run at Brisbane International tennis tournament. Pliskova, who routed Alize Cornet 6-0, 6-3 in the final, has pulled out of the Sydney International with a left thigh injury.
Karolina Pliskova won all but five points in the first six games to set up a 6-0, 6-3 rout of Alize Cornet in the Brisbane International final on Saturday.
The US Open finalist will move to a career-high No. 5 ranking for the Australian Open, which begins on Jan. 16, after winning her first Brisbane title and seventh on the WTA tour.
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However, she seems to have picked up a niggle during her Brisbane campaign. Pliskova has pulled out of the Sydney International with a left thigh injury, tournament organisers confirmed on Sunday.
Pliskova, who had been fourth seeded for the Sydney event.
In the final in Brisbane, the first set lasted less than 20 minutes, with third-seeded Pliskova not dropping a point on serve until the last game. Cornet, who was unseeded and ranked No. 41, didn’t get on the scoreboard until she held to open the second set.
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“I didn’t miss in almost the whole first set,” Pliskova said. “Yeah, I was feeling pretty good.”
Cornet said she couldn’t get a read on Pliskova’s serve, rating it as more difficult to handle than 22-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams’ serve.
Pliskova is “serving really, really well. I mean, I played Serena a few times, and I could always be able to return a first serve ... somehow,” Cornet said. “When you have a serve like this, it’s such a weapon. It’s pretty much nightmare, actually.”
On Sunday, Sydney International organizers said Pliskova, who was scheduled to be seeded fourth there, withdrew due to a left inner thigh injury.
Pliskova had a breakout season in 2016, reaching her first Grand Slam final — beating both Venus and Serena Williams before losing to Angelique Kerber at the U.S. Open — and helping the Czech Republic win the Fed Cup.
On the men’s side, Milos Raonic’s title defense ended in a 7-6 (7), 6-2 semifinal loss to Grigor Dimitrov, who will play third-seeded Kei Nishikori in Sunday’s final.
