In sports, mostly when it comes to the individual ones like tennis is, an athlete could spend years trying to find the right approach, that strategy from which success can emerge to the surface. Karolina Pliskova, now at full maturity, had quite a breakthrough over the past several months. Her game has been constantly polished thus pushing her overall stats above the regular basis. Now, ranked as the world no. 3, for the 24-years-old Czech the future seems so promising.
This week, she is set to compete at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and she leads the bottom half of the draw.
Pliskova already has 2 WTA titles in 2017
The Czech no. 1 tennis player had a jump start of the current season. Playing her first WTA event of the year in Brisbane, she went all the way to win the women's singles title. It was her 7th WTA singles title of her career and the perfect way to set things in motion. At the Australian Open, she put in a solid tennis and reached the quarterfinals where she could not handle a resurgent Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia.
But she kept her level high and then she moved on to the Premier event in Doha where she did great. In the final, she allowed no proper answer from Caroline Wozniacki clinching her 2nd title of 2017.
For Pliskova, the whole equation dramatically changed once she broke her self-imposed barriers.
At 2016 US Open she reached the singles final losing in a dramatic 3 sets thriller to Angelique Kerber. In the previous round, she ousted Serena Williams. That match against Serena must have been the tipping point of her career. Such a tremendous win is flushing the brain with self-confidence and an invincibility feeling.
Dubai could be a choice based on emotion
The season is still far from being settled and Pliskova should know this. Perhaps is not the best way to push yourself up to the limit. She could have considered stepping aside for this tournament. The WTA calendar is loaded with big events in the near future. Indian Wells and Miami come next and some hardcourt success out there could consolidate her ranking position.
