THE RESULT: Narrow margins, booming power, and itchiness in the finger joints were the results.
During Thursday’s match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Karolina Pliskova and Amanda Anisimova demonstrated the art of first-strike tennis. The Czech Republic’s 2016 runner-up destroyed the American’s aspirations in dramatic manner, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6, to secure her place in the third round for the sixth time in her career.
Before closing off an epic thriller, Pliskova saved one of her own match points in the third set tiebreak after she had failed to convert on her first attempt. She took advantage of her opportunity to secure the victory, 9-7 in the breaker, when she had the chance.
Pliskova described the match as “very challenging from the first minute.” “I thought she played phenomenally tonight,” said a friend. I was trying my best to stay in the match, but I guess it was because she was playing so fast, so deep, and so good at serving. As you could see, it came down to a matter of a handful of points, and a little bit of luck played a role.
It was practically impossible to get service breaks as the two players traded rocket serves and groundstrokes to quickly progress through the service games throughout the duration of the two hours and 21 minutes of play time..
One break in the opening set was all that was needed for Pliskova to win. Resiliently, Anisimova won the second set in a nail-biting tiebreak.
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The Third Set, Which Lasted 53 Minutes, Was even Better than the First Two.
Before the tiebreak, Anisimova saved four break points to maintain a 6-5 lead. The 75th-ranked American, backed by the raucous Ashe supporters, took a 5-2 lead in the breaker. When the match was tied at 5-6, she had to save a match point by holding serve. Pliskova’s run had been ignited by back-to-back baseline winners.
Pliskova saved a match point two points later. At 6-7, she broke back and went on to win the next three games in a row with six-plus ball rallies to seal the victory.
“WHAT IT MEANINGS” The runner-up at Wimbledon this year is very much in the mix for the title in New York this year. After making it to the final of the Montreal Open and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati before arriving at the US Open, where she now has a 22-8 career record, she showed this summer that she has the ability to win consistently.
Among her accomplishments in New York include a trip to the championship game in 2016, back-to-back quarterfinal appearances in 2017 and 2018, and a second-week appearance in 2019.
The No.4 seed also has a favourable draw. In the third round, she’ll play unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic.
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After a Dramatic Victory Like Tonight’s, it’s as if Pliskova can Achieve Anything.
Pliskova’s 4-0 record versus Anisimova now stands. Prior to tonight’s match, the 29-year-old had never lost a set to the American.
