DUBAI // Last year, as Karolina Pliskova rose up the rankings from No 71 to No 24, the tall Czech fired down 435 aces in her 68 matches.
Only Serena Williams, the women’s world No 1, had a bigger count – 452 from 60 matches.
This year, with Williams having played only seven matches (88 aces), Pliskova is at the top of the list.
Going into Saturday night's Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship final, she had served 144 aces in 19 matches and 42 of them were delivered in the first five matches of this tournament.
The serve, then, is Pliskova’s most potent weapon.
She also has a thunderous forehand, which tends to be delivered with incredible ease, to the point it is difficult to sight.
The players on the other side of the net are rendered spectators, stranded as the ball thuds into the wall behind them.
Still, the serve is her wrecker-in-chief, her weapon of choice, and Simona Halep, the No 1 seed at Dubai, knew as much, though she had never played 22-year-old Pliskova, the 2010 Australian Open girls champion, before last night.
“To be honest, I don’t like to play girls who are serving so strong,” Halep said before the final, although she pointed out, with a shy modesty, that she has “a good return”.
Along with that return is plenty of grit and a pair of legs that are among the quickest on the women’s tour. There is also a great ability to switch gears and a sharp mind.
All those assets make Halep, 23, the world No 3, a formidable package, and a big-serving Pliskova found that out last night.
Coming out all guns blazing, with her first ace in her second service game, Pliskova soon found it difficult to get past Halep’s defence.
In the semis against Garbine Muguruza the Czech had 13 aces. Last night she had five as Halep took the first set in 40 minutes and then battled through the second in 66 minutes for a 6-4, 7-6 victory.
“She’s still a great player, so I didn’t have that many chances,” said Pliskova, who had never reached the last eight of a Premier 5 level tournament before last night.
“I was just trying to do my best and trying to stay in the second set, but even if I would have won the second set, I don’t think I would have won the match.
“She’s not giving up on every point. She’s running really, really well. Even my serve, I would not say it wasn’t good, but she’s just great returning and everything, just playing back. So, I had to fight for every point and I didn’t get not even one point easy.”
The focus of Halep’s game plan had been clear as she braved the sandstorm going on across the UAE to practise her returns before the match.
But arguably she did not pay enough attention to her own serving, which made her life tougher then it needed to be.
The Romanian had seven double faults in the match and two of those came in succession as she served for the match at 6-5.
Usually calm through her matches, Halep looked agitated at that moment, yelling as Pliskova fought back to force a tiebreaker.
But Halep quickly regained her composure for the tiebreaker to seal the victory.
“It’s been a long wait, but at last I have this title,” she said. “This is such a big win for me and I am just so very happy.
“I knew she has such a big serve and it was important that I believed in my ability to make those returns and stay focused on every point. This was my chance to win this and I am glad that I achieved this goal.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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