World No 1 Karolina Pliskova survives injury scare to beat Zhang Shuai in US Open third round
Pliskova, who had a problem with her right forearm, saved a match point in the second set before closing out victory after more than two and a quarter hours
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Your support makes all the difference.Karolina Pliskova is living dangerously at the US Open but the world No 1 is through to the fourth round after beating China’s Zhang Shuai 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 here on Saturday. Pliskova, who had a problem with her right forearm, saved a match point in the second set before closing out victory after more than two and a quarter hours.
Pliskova took over the No 1 spot after Wimbledon but may need to win her first Grand Slam title here to stay at the top. Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina and Venus Williams all have chances to lead the world rankings at the end of the tournament.
Pliskova, who was runner-up here 12 months ago, had won all four of her previous meetings with Zhang, losing only one set in the process, and had dropped only two games in their most recent encounter in Doha earlier this year.
Zhang, the 28-year-old world No 26, has never gone beyond the third round here, though she reached the quarter-finals of last year’s Australian Open.
Pliskova had had to come from a set down in her previous match here against Nicole Gibbs and was soon in trouble again. Although the Czech broke serve in the opening game she was soon 4-1 down as Zhang settled into a smooth rhythm.
Zhang took the first set in just 34 minutes, though the tide seemed to have turned as Pliskova won the first three games of the second set. Zhang, however, fought back to 3-3 and broke again to go 5-4 up.
When Zhang attempted to serve out for the match in the following game Pliskova saved a match point with a crunching forehand down the line. The Czech went on to level for 5-5, held her own serve in the next game and then broke again to take the set as Zhang tightened up.
Having sent for the trainer at the end of the second set for treatment to her right arm, Pliskova went 2-0 down at the start of the third but then won three games in a row. Thereafter the decider went with serve until Zhang served at 4-5. At 30-30 she netted a forehand and on the following point Pliskova secured victory with a backhand cross-court winner.
Asked afterwards about the forehand she had hit to save match point, Pliskova said: “I wasn’t playing many forehands down the line today, so I said: ‘OK, this is my last try.’ So I went for it. I’m just happy, but again it wasn’t my best match.
“I definitely have to improve in my next match. I think I improved a little bit after the second set. She got a little bit tight at the end of the second set. I felt it so I was just staying in the rallies and waiting for my chance.”
Asked how much more confidence she felt this year compared with 12 months ago, Pliskova said: “It was a totally different story for me last year coming into this tournament. I was seeded No 10 so I didn’t have any pressure on myself. This year it’s a little bit different. So far I’m winning, so that’s good.”
Seven women began the tournament with a chance of toppling Pliskova from the top of the world rankings, but Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Johanna Konta and Svetlana Kuznetsova are all out of the tournament now.
Svitolina, who was due to meet Shelby Rogers in the third round later on Saturday, will need to make the semi-finals or better, while Williams would have to win the title. The best-placed of the contenders to succeed Pliskova is Garbine Muguruza, who faces Petra Kvitova in the fourth round on Sunday.
Jelena Ostapenko, the French Open champion, went out of the tournament when she was beaten 6-3, 6-2 by Russia’s Daria Kasatkina. Ostapenko, who said she felt sick during the match, played her usual aggressive game but paid for her 38 unforced errors.
Kasatkina kept slowing down the pace of the rallies and was happy to see her Latvian opponent make a steady flow of mistakes as she tried to up the pace of the rallies. “In the beginning I was a little bit nervous but I tried to stay focused and play my game and it paid off,” Kastakina said.
The Russian now plays the Estonian qualifier, Kaia Kanepi, who ended Naomi Osaka’s fine run, winning 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. Another Japanese player, Kurumi Nara, also went out, losing 6-3, 6-2 to the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova.
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