DUBAI // Back home in the Czech Republic, Karolina Pliskova barely gets noticed if she ventures out into town, neither in Prague nor in her birth city of Louny.
The 22 year old never gets stopped, asked for selfies or autographs. But given her rapid rise in recent months, she could lose that anonymity in the near future.
Ranked 42nd in the world going into last year’s US Open, Pliskova upset Ana Ivanovic in the second round and, taking that confidence forward, she reached the final of the Hong Kong Open and won the title at the Korea Open in Seoul the following week.
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She won the Linz Open as well, and then she made an excellent start to 2015 by defeating Victoria Azarenka in Brisbane and reaching the final in Sydney.
She lost in the third round at the Australian Open, but she bounced back to win both her Fed Cup matches in the tie against Canada and reach the semi-finals in Antwerp last week.
And now, she has reached the last four at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as well, defeating Czech compatriot Lucie Safarova 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 on Thursday.
“I have to say Lucie played really well,” said the world No 18, who was a set and 3-1 down before she rallied to beat No 15 Safarova for the second time in two weeks.
“I would say that she deserved to win as well, but winner can be only one. So I’m a little bit sorry for her.
“At the beginning of the match I had few break points and a few close games. It could have been 4-2 for me, but it was 4-2 for her. That’s why I lost the set. I was a little bit mentally down.
“Also, in the second set, a break down, I called my coach and he really helped me. He said a few things, which really helped me, and then I got the break in the game immediately after.
“So that’s probably the main thing why I won the second set, and then why I won the third set, as well.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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