WIMBLEDON, July 6: Karolina Pliskova’s tennis success is predicated on a big serve, which rewards her with plenty of easy points and can get her out of trouble when needed. Thanks largely to that stroke, she is headed to the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.
Pliskova claimed 24 of 26 points on her serve in one stretch, hit eight aces and saved the only three break chances she faced on the way to a comprehensive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Viktorija Golubic on Tuesday at the All England Club.
She averaged 106.5 mph on her first serves, 20.5 mph faster than Golubic, with the retractable roof at No. 1 Court shut because of rain.
In the day’s first match in the main stadium, No. 14 seed Hubert Hurkacz came back to beat No. 2 Daniil Medvedev 2-6, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the resumption of a fourth-round match suspended on another court Monday night.
Hurkacz’s first Grand Slam quarterfinal will come against 20-time major champion Roger Federer on Wednesday.
World No 1 Ashleigh Barty made short work of Ajla Tomljanovic in a clash of two Australian players to enter her maiden semi-final at the Wimbledon Championships.
Ashleigh, the 25-year-old from Ipswich who won the French Open in 2019, outplayed her compatriot 6-1, 6-3 in just over an hour at the All-England Club Centre Court.
In the semi-finals, she will take on 2018 winner Angelique Kerber of Germany, who defeated 19th seed Karolina Muchova of Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3.
Earlier, second seed Aryna Sabalenka ended the fairytale run of upcoming Tunisian star Ons Jabeur, winning 6-4, 6-3 in their quarter-final. She will now meet Karolina Pliskova.
Pliskova served first and got pushed to deuce in the opening game, when she was called for a second-serve foot fault.
But from there, she kept Golubic at a safe distance, dropping a total of two points in her following half-dozen service games combined.
Only with Pliskova up a set and a break at 4-2 in the second did the 66th-ranked Golubic, who uses a one-handed backhand, make a bit of a stand.
In a game that lasted more than 10 minutes and included Golubic’s full trio of break points, Pliskova was put to the test.
She erased the first break point with a 113 mph service winner, the second with a 101 mph ace and the last with a quick-strike forehand winner set up by a 115 mph serve. (AP)
