Consistency is a rarely seen word on the WTA tour over the past few years where fans got to see several talented youngsters making their headway into slams and other big tournaments but failing to do it repeatedly. Despite not having won a major title in her career yet, former world no.1 Czech player Karolina Pliskova is one of the most consistent players on the women’s tour over the past few years.
Karolina Pliskova is the fourth player to qualify for WTA Finals at Guadalajara this year
With the updated rankings released on Monday, the Czech found herself getting qualified to the WTA Finals event in Guadalajara for the fifth consecutive time in her career.
By qualifying for the WTA Finals this year, Pliskova also established a unique record as she outlasts legends like Serena Williams, Venus Williams, in terms of no. of consecutive appearances at the year-end championships.
Serena managed to make it three subsequent appearances(2012,2013,2014) at WTA Finals and won all of them. On the other hand, Venus only made two continuous appearance at the year-end championships(2008 & 2009)
Even though Pliskova didn’t manage to win a tour-level title this year, she reached the finals of Italian Open, Wimbledon, and Canadian Open. Her latest appearance was at the US Open, where she reached the quarter-finals before losing to Maria Sakkari in straight sets.
Before Pliskova, players like Ashleigh Barty, Aryna Sabalenka, and Barbora Krejcikova made their way into the WTA Finals. In her four previous attempts at the year-end championships, Karolina Pliskova reached three consecutive semi-finals from 2017 to 2019.
Guadalajara Bound
@KaPliskova will be making her 5⃣th appearance in the @WTAFinals
@Porsche | #RaceToTheWTAFinals pic.twitter.com/iUrPz1LI87
— wta (@WTA) October 4, 2021
Barty, Sabalenka, and Barbora Krejcikova were already qualified for the year-end championships
While Barty won multiple titles(Yarra Valley Classic, Miami, Stuttgart, and Wimbledon), Sabalenka had an excellent season as she won WTA 1000 event in Madrid and made it to the maiden semi-finals at Wimbledon.
On the other hand, Barbora Krejcikova stunned Elina Svitolina, Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, and Maria Sakkari to reach her maiden slam final at Roland Garros. In the championship match, she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to win her first major title.
Post the stunning victory at the French Open, the Czech also won the Prague Open. During the US Open last month, Krejcikova lost in the quarters to Sabalenka.
All the three players(Barty, Sabalenka, and Krejcikova) haven’t played a tournament since New York were initially scheduled to appear for the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells. Few days before the tournament, Barty announced her decision to skip India Wells.
For Sabalenka, she got tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to withdraw from the event. Leaving the top two players, others like Krejcikova, Pliskova, Muguruza, Swiatek, and others are confirmed to play the last big WTA tournament ahead of Guadalajara this year.
The post Karolina Pliskova Powers Past Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, and Venus Williams in Unique Record at WTA Year-End Championships appeared first on EssentiallySports.
from EssentiallySports https://www.essentiallysports.com/wta-tennis-news-karolina-pliskova-powers-past-serena-williams-naomi-osaka-and-venus-williams-in-unique-record-at-wta-year-end-championships/
0 Comments