Karolina Pliskova should consider herself lucky to move into the third round after the Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka retired from an abdominal injury at the start of their third set. Naomi showed no sign of an injury in the second set tie break, which she won allowing Karolina only 4 points and closed that set with a service winner. At the start of the third set, Pliskova seemed very determined to win and won the first game when Osaka decided to call for the trainer and retire from the match.
The head to head record between Pliskova and Wozniacki
These two have played five times in the past since their first encounter at Miami Masters in 2013, which Wozniacki won in three tightly fought sets. Their head to head record in favor of Wozniacki is 4-2. However, Pliskova has won two of their three meetings in 2017 and is also number one in the WTA rankings now.
Wozniacki has been playing well lately and has won eight of her last ten matches, which include a convincing win over Agnieszka Radwanska in the previous round here. Radwanska is a quality player and Caroline’s convincing victory over her is an ominous warning for Pliskova. Pliskova too has been riding a wave of her own and has achieved the coveted number one ranking recently.
She too has won eight of the last ten matches that she has played, and has beaten quality opponents such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Johanna Konta, and Caroline Wozniacki.
Caroline's and Karolina’s playing styles
Caroline is known for retrieving just about any ball on the court and Karolina Pliskova for her hard and flat ground shots of both wings, and a powerful serve which helped place her higher than even Serena Williams for the ace counts in both 2015 and 2016!
Caroline has lost big matches because of her inability to come up with the big shots which are required to beat a top ranking player at slams, and Pliskova is quite capable of losing matches, she should have won, because of her ultra aggressive playing style, which results in far too many unforced errors.
Apparently, both Caroline and Karolina are in top form and, this match could be a barn burner if it lives up to its potential.
Wozniacki’s defensive and grinding abilities pitted against Pliskova’s all out attack should make for an interesting matchup. Will Wozniacki’s defensive skills wear out Pliskova’s attacking game or will Karolina's all out attack render Caroline's defense toothless and inept? Well, we do not have to wait much longer to find that out as the two are scheduled to play each other today.
