Karolína Plíšková won the quarterfinals on the clay in Stuttgart after almost two and a half hours of fighting, her third this season. The world’s top 17 have not made it further this year. Thanks to 15 aces, she defeated the Croatian Donna Vekičová 6:2, 6:7 and 7:6.
The next opponent of Plíšková, who dominated the Porsche Grand Prix five years ago, may be the queen of the Polish rankings, Iga Šwiateková.
Plíšková is playing in Stuttgart after almost a month’s break, and Vekičová thoroughly tested her in the ninth mutual duel. The first set was fairly clearly won by the former world number one and finalist of the US Open and Wimbledon, but then the match became very dramatic and two tie-breaks followed.
In the second set, Plíšková was at 6:5 when receiving two balls from victory, but she lost not only this game, but also the tie-break (5:7). Not a single player managed to break in the deciding set. Plíšková earned three match points from 6:3 in the shortened game and converted the last one after a mistake by the Croatian. She improved her record with the world’s 23rd player Vekičová to 7:2.
Plíšková will play Šwiateková for the semifinals, the first since the August tournament in Toronto, if the Pole fulfills the role of favorite against the Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen.
Plíšková remained the only Czech in the spider in Stuttgart. On Wednesday, Barbora Krejčíková was not enough to beat world number two Aryna Sabalenková from Belarus.
Women’s tennis tournament in Stuttgart (clay, subsidy 780,637 euros):
Singles – 2nd round: Plíšková (Czech Republic) – Vekičová (Croatia) 6:2, 6:7 (5:7), 7:6 (7:5), Šwiateková (1-Pol.) – Cheng Chin-wen (China) 6:1, 6:4, Potapova (Russia) – Gauffova (5-USA) 6:2, 6:3, Badosaova – Bucsaova (both Sp.) 6:1, 6:2.
