The WTA professional circuit is in the middle of its second week of tennis in Japan's capital, Tokyo. The event featured some of the most prominent names in the sport, and many of those names made it through. That said, however, Johanna Konta is the only big name that didn't make it through. The quarterfinals stages will feature an interesting duel between the opposing two former world No. 1's.
Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber had no problems in securing a spot in the next round and therefore, these two will cross paths for a place in the semis.
Kerber vs Pliskova matchup had its glory period during the 2016 US Open Series. Whether it was about the final of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati or the 2016 US Open final, these two were able to deliver some high-quality tennis when needed.
Kerber rolled past Kasatkina, Pliskova cruised past Linette
While Pliskova received a bye in the opening round in Tokyo due to her higher ranking status, Kerber had to start from scratch as she was seeded seventh in the main draw. A revenge victory over Naomi Osaka in the opening round put her up against Daria Kasatkina of Russia. The 20-year-old Russian was leading by 2-1 in their head to head, having won their last two meetings (on hard court).
But this time, despite a tricky set that she eventually managed to go through, Kerber was the better player, winning the first set after a tie-break put her in front. The second set had its key moments at 2-2 when Kerber held her serve from 0-40 saving a couple of break points in a row. The very next game she went on to break Kasatkina's serve.
It was the end of the match with the German leveling the head to head stats at 2-2.
On the other side, Karolina Pliskova had no troubles at all to get past Magda Linette (74 WTA). It was a straight set victory 6-2 6-1 in a bit over an hour of play that puts her in the same box with Kerber. The winner of this encounter will face the surviving part of Barbora Strycova (25 WTA) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (23 WTA) matchup.
Kerber and Pliskova present with a rich common history
These two players have a head to head history that is no ordinary one. Their rivalry gathered some intense moments over the years, with the 2016 US Open final episode as the highlight. Moreover, the final at Flushing Meadows was also their last official meeting on the WTA Tour. Kerber leads Pliskova by 5-3 with six of their eight past meetings being held on hard court. Pliskova won their only clay court clash (at Nurnberg back in 2014) while Kerber got the winning ticket in their sole grass-court encounter at Birmingham back in 2015.
