_07_(cropped).jpg) Plíšková at the2024 Washington Open | |
| Native name | Karolína Plíšková |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  Czech Republic |
| Residence | Monte Carlo, Monaco |
| Born | (1992-03-21)21 March 1992 (age 33) Louny,Czechoslovakia (nowCzech Republic) |
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro | 2009 |
| Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach | Željko Krajan (2024–),[1]Olga Savchuk (2020–2023)[2] Sascha Bajin (2020–2022, 2023),Leoš Friedl (2022),Daniel Vallverdú (2020),Conchita Martínez (2019),Rennae Stubbs (2018),Tomáš Krupa (2017–2018),David Kotyza (2017),Jiří Vaněk (2014–2016),Jan Bedáň [cs] (2010-2012) |
| Prize money | US$ 26,111,050[3] |
| Official website | karolina-pliskova.com |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 641–372 |
| Career titles | 17[4] |
| Highest ranking | No.1 (17 July 2017) |
| Current ranking | No. 132 (17 February 2025) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2019) |
| French Open | SF (2017) |
| Wimbledon | F (2021) |
| US Open | F (2016) |
| Other tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | SF (2017,2018,2019) |
| Olympic Games | 3R (2020) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 184–146 |
| Career titles | 5[5] |
| Highest ranking | No. 11 (31 October 2016) |
| Grand Slam doubles results | |
| Australian Open | SF (2016) |
| French Open | QF (2021) |
| Wimbledon | SF (2016) |
| US Open | 3R (2016,2023) |
| Grand Slam mixed doubles results | |
| Wimbledon | 2R (2014) |
| Team competitions | |
| Fed Cup | W (2015,2016,2018) |
| Hopman Cup | RR (2016) |
| Last updated on: 12 October 2024[6]. | |
Karolína Plíšková (Czech pronunciation:[ˈkaroliːnaˈpliːʃkovaː]; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professionaltennis player. She has been ranked as theworld No. 1 in women's singles by theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA), holding the position for a total of eight weeks,[7] and has beenranked world No. 11 in doubles. Plíšková has won 17 singles and five doubles titles on theWTA Tour, and has reached twomajor singles finals at the2016 US Open and the2021 Wimbledon Championships.
As a junior, Plíšková won thegirls' singles event at the2010 Australian Open. She has also played for theCzech Republic inBillie Jean King Cup competition where she has scored a win-loss record of 15–8 (as of September 2024).[8] She is known for her powerful serve and forehand.
Plíšková was born inLouny to Radek Plíšek and Martina Plíšková, and has an identical twin sister,Kristýna, who is two minutes older and is also a tennis player.[9][10] She currently lives inMonte Carlo. In 2018, she married Michal Hrdlička[11] and subsequently changed her name to Karolína Hrdličková (Czech pronunciation:[ˈkaroliːnaˈɦr̩dlitʃkovaː]).[citation needed]
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Karolína Plíšková won theAustralian Open junior title, defeatingLaura Robson in the girls' final.[12][note 1]
Plíšková played her first seniorGrand Slam tournament main draw at the2012 French Open. To qualify, she defeatedDia Evtimova,Tamaryn Hendler andLaura Robson. She lost in the first round to world No. 8,Marion Bartoli, in straight sets.[13][note 1]
Plíšková started the year inBrisbane International. She however lost toOlga Puchkova in the first round in two sets. Then in her next tournament inSydney she qualified, beatingAlexandra Panova,Irina Falconi andEstrella Cabeza Candela. In the first round she lost to the third seed,Sara Errani.[13][note 1]
Plíšková won her maidenWTA Tour title at theMalaysian Open. She defeated several seeded players to reach the final againstBethanie Mattek-Sands, defeating her in three sets.[13][note 1]
At theGenerali Ladies Linz in October, Plíšková won her first career title in doubles alongside sister Kristýna, becoming the first set of twins in history to win a doubles title together on the tour.[14][13][note 1]
2014 was a breakthrough year for Plíšková. After consecutive second-round finishes inAuckland and at theAustralian Open, she reached her second career WTA tour final inPattaya City, defeating top-50 playersBethanie Mattek-Sands andSorana Cîrstea before losing toEkaterina Makarova in the final. She then reached the third round ofIndian Wells, the quarterfinals of theMonterrey Open and the semifinals inKuala Lumpur between March and April. In May, she reached her third career final inNuremberg, losing to second seedEugenie Bouchard in three sets. She broke into the top-50 in July and defeated world No. 9,Ana Ivanovic, in the second round of theUS Open. After playing in America, she reached two finals in two consecutive weeks – inHong Kong, where she lost toSabine Lisicki, and inSeoul, which she won, defeatingVarvara Lepchenko in the final to take her second career title.[13][note 1]In October, she won her third title and second of the year inLinz.[15]As analternate, Plíšková made a round-robin appearance at the season-closingTournament of Champions, in lieu of top seed Ekaterina Makarova, losing her sole match againstFlavia Pennetta.
After reaching five finals and winning two of them, and appearing to a broader public at the US Open with a big win over a former world No. 1, 2014 was a breakthrough year for Plíšková. She leaped from world No. 67 to No. 24.[16]
Plíšková began her year at theBrisbane International where she defeated former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion,Victoria Azarenka, in the first round before losing in the second. She reached her firstWTA Premier-level final at theSydney International defeatingCarla Suárez Navarro andAngelique Kerber, before losing to fellow Czech,Petra Kvitová, in two tie-breaking sets. As a consequence of this run, she broke into the world's top 20 for the first time in her career.[15]
At the first major event of the year inAustralia, Plíšková reached the third round, before losing toEkaterina Makarova.
She made her debut for theCzech team in the first round of the2015 Fed Cup World Group in February, winning both of her rubbers againstFrançoise Abanda andGabriela Dabrowski ofCanada to help the Czechs to a 4–0 win inQuébec.
As the eighth seed, Plíšková reached semifinals atAntwerp, before losing to eventual runner-up Carla Suárez Navarro. She then played at the 2015 Dubai Championships and reached the final as the 17th seed, along the way beating No. 4 seed Ana Ivanovic, fellow CzechLucie Šafářová, and the rising SpaniardGarbiñe Muguruza. She lost in the final against top seedSimona Halep.
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Plíšková then played inIndian Wells where she won a rematch with Muguruza in the third round, before losing again to Halep. In Miami, Plíšková reached the quarterfinals where she lost toAndrea Petkovic. She was the top seed in her home tournament inPrague and reached the final by defeatingAnnika Beck,Tsvetana Pironkova,Denisa Allertová andYanina Wickmayer, going to a third set in three of her four matches. In the final, she defeated fellow CzechLucie Hradecká in another three-set battle to claim her fourth career title.
At theMadrid Open she beatSílvia Soler Espinosa in the first round, but lost toCaroline Garcia in the second. At theItalian Open she lost in the first round toTimea Bacsinszky in straight sets. She lost in the second round ofFrench Open as 12th seed to unseededAndreea Mitu in straight sets after beatingZhang Shuai in the first round.
She reached another final atBirmingham Classic losing to Angelique Kerber, in three sets. She lost toAgnieszka Radwańska at theEastbourne International in the third round. AtWimbledon, Plíšková defeated Irina Falconi in three sets before losing toCoCo Vandeweghe in the second round.
She made another final atStanford Classic, losing once again to Angelique Kerber. Plíšková lost in the first round at Canadian Open toMirjana Lučić-Baroni and in the third round of theWestern & Southern Open toJelena Janković and reached the quarterfinals of theConnecticut Open, losing toLesia Tsurenko. Seeded eighth at theUS Open, Plíšková suffered a shocking loss toAnna Tatishvili in the first round.
She made another two quarterfinals atPan Pacific Open andWuhan Open, losing to Agnieszka Radwańska andRoberta Vinci, respectively, but lost in the first round ofChina Open toSloane Stephens, in straight sets. Her next tournament was the Tianjin Open where she reached the semifinals, losing to Radwańska for the third time in 2015. She lost in the second round of theKremlin Cup toAnastasija Sevastova.
She reached a tour-leading sixth final at theWTA Elite Trophy but lost toVenus Williams in straight sets. She ended the year ranked No. 11 in singles and was the 13th most popular player of the year according to theWTA's website. Plíšková played as Czech No. 2 in theFed Cup Finals, losing toMaria Sharapova on Saturday. The following day, she defeatedAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova in singles and won the deciding doubles rubber withBarbora Strýcová, against Pavlyuchenkova andElena Vesnina, to win her first Fed Cup title.
Plíšková began her season at the2016 Hopman Cup, where she partnered withJiří Veselý to represent the Czech Republic. She recorded singles wins overJarmila Wolfe andVictoria Duval.
She reached quarterfinals inSydney by defeating Ana Ivanovic and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, both in straight sets, but lost to world No. 2, Simona Halep, in straight sets. At theAustralian Open, Plíšková defeatedKimberly Birrell andJulia Görges (both in straight sets) in the first two rounds. However, she again lost to Makarova, who defeated her at the same round at last year's Australian Open. After the tournament, she competed in Fed Cup and earned important wins over Simona Halep andMonica Niculescu in Czech Republic's tie against Romania.
Her next tournament was theDubai Tennis Championships, where she was defending the previous year's points as a finalist; however, she fell to CoCo Vandeweghe, in straight sets. Struggles continued as she lost toMargarita Gasparyan in the first round of theQatar Ladies Open.
After receiving a first-round bye inIndian Wells, Plíšková defeatedShelby Rogers and Ana Ivanovic, both in straight sets. She then defeatedJohanna Konta in three sets and earned another straight sets win over rising starDaria Kasatkina, before losing in three sets to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. Despite her good campaign in Indian Wells, Plíšková lost in the second round of theMiami Open toTímea Babos after another first-round bye.
Plíšková opened her clay-court season at thePorsche Tennis Grand Prix. She defeated the2015 French Open finalistLucie Šafářová in the first round in three sets and Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. However, she would fall to the top seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the third round. She next competed at thePrague Open. She cruised byStefanie Vögele,Kateřina Siniaková, andCamila Giorgi in the first three rounds. However, she would lose in straight sets to Lucie Šafářová in the semifinals. Plíšková lost in the second round of theMadrid Open toMadison Keys in straight sets and fell in the first round of theItalian Open to Daria Kasatkina. Her clay-court season would come to a disappointing end as she would lose to the 108th ranked player in the world, Shelby Rogers, in the first round of theFrench Open.
Plíšková won her first title of the year at theNottingham Open. After a three set match with Anastasija Sevastova in the first round, she cruised to the final and beatAlison Riske for her first grass title. She then lost in the first round of theBirmingham Classic to Barbora Strýcová and reached the final of theEastbourne International which she lost toDominika Cibulková. At Wimbledon, Plíšková beatYanina Wickmayer in three sets before losing toMisaki Doi in the second round.
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Plíšková began her hardcourt season at theRogers Cup, where she beatKateryna Bondarenko and Sara Errani (who had to withdraw from the match) before losing in straight sets to eventual champion Simona Halep. She then pulled out of theOlympics. Plíšková won her maidenWTA Premier tournament at theWestern & Southern Open, defeating Germany's Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the final. Her victory denied Kerber the opportunity to take over the world No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams and enabled Williams to tieSteffi Graf's record of 186 consecutive weeks at No. 1.[17] At theUS Open, Plíšková beat wildcardSofia Kenin, qualifierMontserrat González and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova en route to her first major round of 16, where she defeated sixth seed and two-time champion,Venus Williams, in three sets and ensured her first ever major quarterfinal where she facedAna Konjuh.[18] She beat the Croatian in straight sets and reached her first major semifinal, where she beat Serena Williams in straight sets to reach the final, where Serena was attempting to vie her seventh US Open title. In the final, she lost to incoming No. 1, Angelique Kerber, despite winning the second set and being 3–1 up in the final set.
Plíšková continued the season with playing in Asia and the first tournament was inTokyo, however she lost in the first match to qualifierAliaksandra Sasnovich. In the next tournament inWuhan she had bye in the first round, and in the second round she defeated countrywoman Lucie Šafářová and then easily lost to Dominika Cibulková. Her run ended in the third round inBeijing. In the first round, she met Šafářová again and beat her in three sets and then won over Daria Kasatkina by winning 9–7 in tie-break third set. Then she lost to Johanna Konta in three sets.
Plíšková qualified for2016 WTA Finals and was in the group with Agnieszka Radwańska, Garbiñe Muguruza andSvetlana Kuznetsova. The first match was against Muguruza, which Plíšková won and had to face Muguruza's matchpoints. In other matches the opponents were more successful and Plíšková ended the tournament in Singapore with one win and two losses. Plíšková played her final matches of 2016 in theFed Cup Final in France. She beatKristina Mladenovic in the first singles rubber, which saw the third set end in a score of 14–12. This was the longest rubber in a Fed Cup Final, in terms of games played.[19] In the next singles rubber against Caroline Garcia, Plíšková lost in three sets. The tie was even after the four singles rubbers, setting up a decisive doubles contest in which Plíšková partnered with Barbora Strýcová to defeat the WTA No. 1 ranked doubles team of Mladenovic/Garcia. With this victory over France, Plíšková and her Czech teammates completed a Fed Cup hat trick. It was also the second consecutive year that Plíšková and Strýcová won a decisive doubles rubber in the final.[20]
At the end of the season she changed coaches. Jiří Vaněk was substituted byDavid Kotyza, former coach of compatriot and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová.[21]
In 2017, Plíšková started the season by playing inBrisbane, where she beatYulia Putintseva and qualifierAsia Muhammad in two sets and then Roberta Vinci in three sets. She then defeatedElina Svitolina andAlizé Cornet (both in straight sets) and won her 7th title.[22]
At the2017 Australian Open, she defeated easilySara Sorribes Tormo andAnna Blinkova and beatJeļena Ostapenko in three sets despite being down 2–5 in the third. In the fourth round she defeatedDaria Gavrilova and reached her second straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, where she was defeated by unseeded Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, in three sets. Her ranking increased to a career-high of No. 3 in the world.[15]
In February, Plíšková played first round ofFed Cup againstSpain inOstrava. She defeatedLara Arruabarrena and Garbiñe Muguruza, both in straight sets. Her next tournament wasDoha, where she had a bye in the first round. She played against Caroline Garcia in the second round and revenged the loss from the end of 2016 with a straight sets win. Then she played two matches in one day due to rain and won both of them. The quarterfinal against Zhang Shuai lasted overall about 7 hours. However, she outlasted Shuai in two sets before edging No. 5 Dominika Cibulková in three sets, a match in which she hit a career-best 21 aces to beat the Slovakian for the first time. In the final, she beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to win her eighth WTA Tour title. Plíšková lost in the second round to Kristina Mladenovic inDubai.[22]
In the second round of the Indian Wells Open, she defeatedMonica Puig in three sets in a match full of errors. Although Plíšková's performance was not so confident, she defeatedIrina-Camelia Begu in two sets, Timea Bacsinszky, who retired at the end of the sixth game, and Garbiñe Muguruza in two tie-breaks. In the semifinal against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Plíšková fell in straight tie-breaks. She reached the semifinals of the Miami Open, recording straight-set victories against qualifierMadison Brengle, Yulia Putintseva, countrywoman Barbora Strýcová, and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni before falling to Caroline Wozniacki in three sets.[22]
Plíšková kicked off the clay-court season inStuttgart, where she defeated CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets, but then lost in the quarterfinals to eventual championLaura Siegemund. She then lost in the first round of home tournamentPrague toCamila Giorgi. She also reached her first quarterfinals inRome. In the first round she beatLauren Davis, then Timea Bacsinszky, before losing to eventual champion Elina Svitolina in straight sets which was also her first defeat to Svitolina in her career. At the2017 French Open, she beatZheng Saisai,Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Carina Witthöft before winning a close fourth-round match againstVerónica Cepede Royg. She then defeated Caroline Garcia to set up a semifinal encounter with Simona Halep, which she lost in three sets. The defeat prevented her from claiming the world No. 1 ranking at the conclusion of the tournament.[22]
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For the 2017 grass-court season, Plíšková attended theEastbourne International as the third seed at the end of June and won the tournament after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final in straight sets.[23] AtWimbledon, Plíšková was again regarded as one of the pre-tournament favourites following her Eastbourne victory, but she suffered an unexpected second-round exit after losing in three-sets to world No. 87Magdaléna Rybáriková, which made her the highest-ranked player to exit the draw at that point.[24] However, on 17 July, after Simona Halep lost in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Plíšková reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career.[25] She became the sixth player to reach the No. 1 positionwithout having won a major and the first female player representing the Czech Republic to achieve the feat.[26] Czechoslovakian-bornMartina Navratilova had also achieved a WTA world No. 1 ranking, but was already representing the United States when she first topped the rankings in 1978.
Plíšková attained solid results during the U.S. summer swing, reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals of theCanadian Open and theWestern & Southern Open, respectively. Pliskova participated in theUS Open, where she was the top seed for the first time in a major. Plíšková easily defeatedMagda Linette in straight sets in the first round, and outlasted AmericanNicole Gibbs after dropping the first set. In the third round she made a furious comeback after being a set down and facing match point in the second set to defeat 27th seed Zhang Shuai. She defeatedJennifer Brady by dropping just one game and advanced to the quarterfinals. Plíšková lost to CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
At thePan Pacific Open, she defeated Magda Linette before losing toAngelique Kerber. At the Wuhan Open, Plíšková reached the quarterfinal stage, before losing toAshleigh Barty in three sets. At theChina Open, she defeated Carla Suárez Navarro andAndrea Petkovic to reach the third round, where she lost toSorana Cîrstea. At the WTA Finals, Plíšková defeated Venus Williams in straight sets, and then faced Garbiñe Muguruza whom she also defeated in straight sets. These victories ensured that she would reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals for the first time. She then lost to Wozniacki in straight sets.
InBrisbane, Plíšková lost in the semifinals to Elina Svitolina.[27] At theAustralian Open, she reached quarterfinals for the second time, having defeated Verónica Cepede Royg,Beatriz Haddad Maia, Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová.[28] In the quarterfinals, she lost to Halep in straight sets.[29] In Doha, she reached the third round, after receiving a first-round bye and defeating Alizé Cornet in second round in straight sets. In round three, she fell to American teenager Cici Bellis in straight sets, thus failing to defend her title. In Dubai, after receiving first round bye, she defeated Suárez Navarro in three sets in the second round. In the quarterfinals, she was defeated by Angelique Kerber in straight sets. In Indian Wells, Plisková reached the quarterfinals where she lost to eventual champion, Naomi Osaka. At the following tournament, the Miami Open, Plíšková was defeated by wildcard and former champion Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.
Then Plíšková reached the quarterfinals in Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami. In April, she won theStuttgart Open, defeating CoCo Vandeweghe in the final. She played also in the semifinals of Madrid.
After reaching the quarterfinals in New York, Plíšková defeated the newly crownedUS Open champion Naomi Osaka to takePan Pacific Open, her eleventh career title.
Plíšková opened her season at theBrisbane International, seeded fifth. She defeated Yulia Putintseva,Marie Bouzková,Ajla Tomljanović,Donna Vekić, and Lesia Tsurenko to win the title.
Plíšková was seeded seventh at the2019 Australian Open. She defeated qualifierKarolína Muchová, Madison Brengle, 27th seed Camila Giorgi, and 18th seed Garbiñe Muguruza to reach her third consecutive quarterfinal at the tournament. There, she faced 16th seed Serena Williams, who had defeated top seed Simona Halep in the previous round. After going up a set and a break, Plíšková lost ground to Serena and found herself facing match point at five games to one in the third set. However, she pulled off a stunning comeback, winning six consecutive games and saving three additional match points at 5–4 to win the set 7–5.[30] She thus advanced to her first Australian Open semifinal, which she lost the next day to fourth seed Naomi Osaka, in three sets.
Plíšková managed to carry her momentum through the early hardcourt season, making the quarterfinals in bothDubai andIndian Wells. She then managed to reach her first career Premier Mandatory final at theMiami Open, after beating reigning French Open champion Halep in the semifinals. However, she was defeated in the final by Ash Barty in straight sets.
Plíšková got off to a disappointing start to the clay-court season, losing to former world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, in her opening match inStuttgart and Ukrainian qualifierKateryna Kozlova in the second round inMadrid. She rebounded, however, to win the biggest clay-court title of her career, and her second career Premier-5 title, at theItalian Open, avenging her previous defeat against Azarenka by defeating her in the quarterfinals, before beatingMaria Sakkari in the semifinals and a resurgentJohanna Konta in the final. Plíšková rose back up to No. 2 in the rankings following her victory. At theFrench Open, she was seeded second and had an opportunity to take over the world No. 1 ranking from Osaka if she reached the final. However, despite being labeled a heavy favorite, she was upset in the third round by the 31st seedPetra Martić.
At theBirmingham Classic in June, she and her sister Kristýna became the first identical twins in WTA history to play each other in a main-draw match. Karolina lost to her sister, who was ranked 112th.[31]
Plíšková's final grass-court warmup tournament beforeWimbledon was at theEastbourne International, where she defeatedMargarita Gasparyan,Elise Mertens,Ekaterina Alexandrova,Kiki Bertens and Angelique Kerber all in straight sets to pick up her 14th career title and her second at Eastbourne.[32] She reached the last 16 at Wimbledon, but was upset by the unseeded Karolína Muchová, with the match going to 13–11 in the final set.[33]
AtBrisbane, Plíšková defeatedAjla Tomljanović,Alison Riske, Naomi Osaka, and Madison Keys to successfully defend her title, and set a record for the most Brisbane International titles. At theAustralian Open, she defeated Kristina Mladenovic and Laura Siegemund, before falling to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. AtDubai, Plíšková defeated Kristina Mladenovic, losing just three games, before losing in the quarterfinals to eventual finalistElena Rybakina. She next competed atDoha, where she defeatedBernarda Pera before losing toOns Jabeur. Before the suspension of the WTA Tour due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, Plíšková was ranked No. 3 in the world.
Her first tournament following the suspension was theWestern & Southern Open where, as the top seed, she lost toVeronika Kudermetova in the second round. At theUS Open, she defeatedAnhelina Kalinina, before losing toCaroline Garcia in the second round.
She reached the final atRome, where she was the defending champion, defeating Barbora Strýcová, Anna Blinkova, Elise Mertens, and Markéta Vondroušová, before retiring in the final against Simona Halep. At theFrench Open, she defeatedMayar Sherif in the first round, before losing to former champion Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. Plíšková's final event of the year was at her home tournament ofOstrava, where, in receipt of a second round bye, she lost to Kudermetova for the second time in the year. Plíšková ended the year ranked No. 6 in the world.[15]
Plíšková's first tournament of the year was atAbu Dhabi. She defeated lucky loserDespina Papamichail in the first round. In the second round, Plíšková was defeated by qualifier and world No. 292,Anastasia Gasanova, in straight sets, despite this being Gasanova's first appearance in a WTA Tour main draw. This was Plíšková's worst defeat by ranking since 2013.
At theAustralian Open warmup tournament, Plíšková received a first-round bye and defeatedElisabetta Cocciaretto in straight sets. In the third round, she was defeated byDanielle Collins, 7–6, 7–6. At theAustralian Open, she defeatedJasmine Paolini in the first round, before avenging defeat against Collins in the second round, to the loss of just nine games across both matches. In the third round, she faced Karolína Muchová for the first time since her shock defeat at Wimbledon in 2019. Muchová won the first set 7–5, and then Plíšková raced to a 5–0 lead in the second. Plíšková then lost seven games in a row, being defeated by Muchová in straight sets. This extended Plíšková's streak in losing at Grand Slam tournaments before the quarterfinals to seven consecutive slams.
AtDoha, Plíšková defeated Ons Jabeur in three sets in the second round, before losing to Jessica Pegula. AtDubai, she defeatedAnastasija Sevastova, before losing again to Pegula. AtMiami, where she was a defending finalist, she defeated Zheng Saisai, before losing for the third time to Pegula in the third round. As a result of her early loss, Plíšková's ranking fell to No. 9 in the world, her lowest ranking since August 2018.
At theItalian Open, Plíšková saved match points against Jeļena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals to ultimately reach her third straight Italian Open final. She lost in the final to reigning French Open championIga Świątek, 0–6, 0–6, in the most lopsided defeat in a tournament final of her career and the shortest completed final since Istanbul 2009. It was also the first double bagel to decide the Rome title, and the most one-sided Italian Open final since 1983.[34]
At the2021 French Open, Plíšková partnered with twin sister Kristýna and reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam in doubles for the first time in their careers when playing together. She had less success in singles after she was upset bySloane Stephens in the second round.
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Her struggles continued into the year's grass season. She headed to theEastbourne International tournament as the defending champion, but crashed out in the first round to Camila Giorgi, in straight sets. As a result, she left the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time since August 2016.[35] However, Plíšková's fortunes turned around at the2021 Wimbledon Championships. She reached the quarterfinals and semifinals for the first time at this major, defeating wildcardLudmilla Samsonova andViktorija Golubic respectively.[36] With her quarterfinal victory, Plíšková had reached the semifinal stage or better of all four Grand Slam events and became the sixth active female player to have reached all the majors semifinals after Serena and Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, and Kim Clijsters.[37][38] She went on to reach her first Wimbledon final and second ever Grand Slam final since the 2016 US Open after defeating second seedAryna Sabalenka in three sets.[39] She was later defeated by Ashleigh Barty in the final, 6–3, 6–7, 6–3, but by finishing runner-up, she returned to the top 10.[35][40]
In late July, Plíšková made her first Olympics appearance at the2020 Summer Olympics and was the fifth seed going into thesingles tournament. She eased past Alizé Cornet in straight sets and Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets, but lost to Camila Giorgi in the third round in straight sets.[41][42][43]
For the beginning of theUS Open Series, Plíšková attended theCanadian Open as the fourth seed. After defeating Donna Vekić andAmanda Anisimova, she landed Sara Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinal, whom she beat in straight sets.[44][45][46] For the semifinal, Plíšková faced a rematch with top seed Aryna Sabalenka, whom she had already beaten in the Wimbledon semifinal just two months prior; this time, she beat Sabalenka in straight sets after breaking early in the match and just losing the lead once in the second set, before breaking back to seal the win. This victory meant Plíšková had reached her seventh WTA 1000 final and first final at this tournament.[47][48][49] She faced Camila Giorgi in the final, their third match against each other for the year, and lost once more in straight sets.[50] By reaching the final, Plíšková reentered the top 5 of the WTA singles rankings at world No. 4 on 16 August 2021.[48]
Plíšková's next tournament was theCincinnati Open, where she entered as the fifth seed and received a first-roundbye.[51] In the second round, she defeated Yulia Putintseva in straight sets, before facing Jessica Pegula for the fifth time in the year. For the first time, Plíškova defeated Pegula, doing so in straight sets; in the process, she came back from a 1–4 deficit in the first set, and a 0–5 deficit in the second set, saving two set points in the process.[52] After defeating SpaniardPaula Badosa in the quarterfinals following Badosa's retirement in the second set, she was defeated by Swiss wildcardJil Teichmann in straight sets in the semifinals.[53]
She reached world No. 3 on 13 September 2021, following theUS Open where she reached the quarterfinals. The following week, due to wrist injury Plíšková had to withdraw from theOstrava Open.[54] AtIndian Wells, she was upset by lucky loser Beatriz Haddad Maia in the third round. Plíšková qualified for theWTA Finals for the fifth straight time. During the round robin stage, she defeated Garbiñe Muguruza andBarbora Krejčíková, each in three sets, but lost toAnett Kontaveit in straight sets. Although she posted a 2–1 record, she finished third in the group due to the tiebreaker rule that considers the ratio of sets won to lost, therefore failing to qualify for the semifinals.
Plíšková was forced to withdraw from all events held during the Australian swing, after sustaining a hand injury during training. This marked the first time that Plíšková did not appear in a major main draw since the2012 US Open, when she failed to qualify.[55]
Plíšková lost her first two matches of the season, atIndian Wells toDanka Kovinić and atMiami toAnna Kalinskaya, before winning her first match atCharleston toKatarina Zavatska; she would lose her second-round match toEkaterina Alexandrova. Defeating compatriot Petra Kvitová atStuttgart, she would lose her next two matches, to Liudmila Samsonova, and to Marie Bouzková atMadrid. Pliskova then returned to Rome where she had been in the final for three consecutive years. She lost in the first round to Jil Teichmann. At theFrench open, she lost to French wildcard ranked 227thLéolia Jeanjean, in the second round.
InBerlin, she defeatedKaia Kanepi andBianca Andreescu before losing toCoco Gauff in the quarterfinals. Then, she was defeated byKatie Boulter inEastbourne second round. AtWimbledon, she lost to Boulter again in the second round.
Plíšková started the 2022 North American hardcourt swing inSan Jose. She finally defeated Boulter in the first round, before falling to Amanda Anisimova in the second round. Plíšková regained her form atToronto. She reached the semifinals cruising by Krejčíková, Anisimova, Maria Sakkari andZheng Qinwen where she lost to Haddad Maia, in straight sets. This was followed by a second round exit to Elise Mertens inCincinnati.
Seeded 22nd at theUS Open, she reached the fourth round defeating Magda Linette, Marie Bouzková and Belinda Bencic. She reached the quarterfinals, defeating Victoria Azarenka, where she hit 53 winners and 36 errors compared to Azarenka's 46 winners and 39 errors, before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.
InTokyo, she lost in the second round to Petra Martić, in straight sets.
She finished the year ranked No. 32 her lowest year-end ranking since 2013.[15]
At theAustralian Open, Plíšková reached her fourth quarterfinal defeating Zhang Shuai.[56]
At theFrench Open seeded 16th she was defeated bySloane Stephens in the first round.[13][note 1]
AtWimbledon, she also fell in the first round to qualifier and major debutanteNatalija Stevanović.[13][note 1]
She finished the year ranked No. 37, her lowest year-end ranking in 10 years.
Plíšková's first tournament of the season was theBrisbane International, where she defeated Naomi Osaka in the second round in a three-set match, but lost to Jeļena Ostapenko in the third round in another three-set match.[13][note 1] She then participated in theAdelaide International, in which she was defeated by Kateřina Siniaková in the first round in straight sets.[13][note 1] At theAustralian Open she was defeated by third seed Elena Rybakina in the first round in straight sets.[13][note 1]
In February, still on hard courts but in Europe, Plíškova participated in theTransylvania Open where she won the title, her first in four years, over local playerAna Bogdan without the loss of a single set during the tournament.[57]The following week at theQatar Ladies Open, she reached her first quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 level since the 2022 Canadian Open, with a win over compatriotLinda Nosková.[58] As a result, as she returned to the top 50 in the rankings. Next she defeated again Naomi Osaka to reach the semifinals, this time in straight sets.[59] As a result, prior to the start of theDubai Championships, she returned to the top 40 at No. 36 on 19 February 2024.
Following a great beginning of the season, she received a wildcard for theIndian Wells Open, but was defeated in the first round by Anna Blinkova.[60]
Unseeded at theUS Open, she recorded her first major win for the season.[61]
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Plíšková utilizes an extremely aggressive style, highlighted by her powerful, accurate serve, forceful groundstrokes, and aggressive net play, to extract errors from opponents or win points outright.[62] Her greatest strength is her serve, which is known for its pace, power, and precision. She typically generates high first-serve percentages, and is able to serve numerous aces. Her first serve speed averages 109 mph (175 km/h), and peaks at 119 mph (192 km/h)[citation needed]; the fast speed of her first serve combined with its accurate placement and disguise make her first serve effective. Between 2013 and 2019, Plíšková ranked within the top 10 of the WTA ace count, and served the most aces of any player in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019; in 2016, she served 530 aces, the most of any player in a single year in WTA history.[63] She double faults infrequently, although she tends to take risks on her second serve when nervous, causing double faults to accumulate. Her groundstrokes are powerful, allowing her to hit winners from any position on the court. Her strongest groundstroke is her forehand, which she hits flat, with significant pace and power; this shot is responsible for most of the winners she hits on the court. She can generate extreme angles with both her forehand and her backhand, allowing her to hit winners at will. She also shows accuracy and power on mid-court shots, sometimes following them up to the net, where she can hit the most challenging volleys with ease due to her doubles experience.[64][65] Although she mainly plays from the baseline until she creates the opportunity to approach the net and hit low-risk volley winners, Plíšková will occasionally utilise the serve-and-volley tactic to surprise her opponents. This tactic is highly effective – in the2016 US Open final, she won 80% of her serve-and-volley points.[64] Despite her considerable strengths, Plíšková's game is hampered by her poor movement, and lacklustre footwork. Although her movement has improved significantly since turning professional, it is still the weakest area of her game, allowing opponents to hit low-risk winners, due to the fact that she cannot reach the winning shot fast enough. Due to her poor movement, she struggles against defensive players who counterpunch, and aim to move her around the baseline – she possesses losing head-to-head records against many elite defensive players, includingSimona Halep,Agnieszka Radwańska,Angelique Kerber,Caroline Wozniacki,Elina Svitolina,Ashleigh Barty, andSloane Stephens.[66] Plíšková's game is remarkably malleable, and is suited to all surfaces; she has won titles on hard, clay, and grass courts, although her quick and aggressive style of play is especially suited to hard courts.
Plíšková has had several coaches throughout her career;Jiří Vaněk (2014–16),David Kotyza (2017), andTomáš Krupa (2017–18). After parting with Krupa, she united withRennae Stubbs for the2018 US Open, although the partnership ended at the end of the year, so that Stubbs could return to her career as a TV tennis commentator.[67] She was coached byConchita Martínez throughout the 2019 season; their partnership ended that year when Martínez began to coachGarbiñe Muguruza. In 2019, Plíšková announced that she would be coached byATP coachDaniel Vallverdú for the 2020 season.[68] Due to a string of poor results, their partnership ended at the end of 2020.
She than announced that she would be coached by former WTA doubles player Olga Savchuk. This partnership has produced success at the highest level and is continued through the US Open 2022.Also from November 2020 to July 2022, she was coached bySascha Bajin.[69][70] She reached the2021 Wimbledon Championships final under his tutelage. The two reunited in December 2022 for the 2023 season.[71] They split for a second time in July 2023.[72]
Plíšková is currently endorsed byAdidas for clothing and footwear since the2024 Australian Open. She was previously endorsed byFila for clothing and footwear since 2016, and usesBabolat racquets, specifically endorsing the Pure Drive range of racquets.[citation needed]
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | SR | W–L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | A | Q1 | Q1 | 1R | 2R | 3R | 3R | QF | QF | SF | 3R | 3R | A | QF | 1R | A | 0 / 11 | 26–11 | 72% |
| French Open | A | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 2R | 1R | SF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 13 | 14–13 | 54% | |
| Wimbledon | Q1 | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 4R | 4R | NH | F | 2R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 12 | 18–12 | 62% | |
| US Open | Q1 | Q1 | Q2 | 1R | 3R | 1R | F | QF | QF | 4R | 2R | QF | QF | 2R | 2R | 0 / 12 | 30–12 | 71% | |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 9–4 | 14–4 | 13–4 | 13–4 | 4–3 | 13–4 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 1–4 | 0 / 48 | 88–48 | 65% |
| Result | Year | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 2016 | US Open | Hard |  Angelique Kerber | 3–6, 6–4, 4–6 |
| Loss | 2021 | Wimbledon | Grass |  Ashleigh Barty | 3–6, 7–6(7–4), 3–6 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | World No. 1 17 July 2017 – 10 September 2017 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | US Open Series Champion 2015 | Succeeded by |
| |
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
