Monday 20 / May / 2024
Brisbane: Czech Karolina Pliskova crushed Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-0, 6-3 with a barrage of winners to win the Brisbane International title on Saturday and signal her intent for this month's Australian Open.
Pliskova, who will rise to a career-high number five in the world rankings on Monday, dropped one set all week and continued her dominance in the final, hitting 30 winners compared to her opponent's 10.
"It's nice to join the other names on this trophy," Pliskova said after winning the Evonne Goolagong Cawley trophy for her seventh WTA title.
"Every day here it's been a full stadium and I've loved to play in front of you and I hope I'm going to be back next year."
Cornet, who won her only previous meeting with the big-hitting Czech in 2013, had no answers and the first set lasted 18 minutes.
Cornet got on the board in the first game of the second set and managed to stretch her opponent but did not have enough to withstand the Czech's booming serves and fierce groundstrokes.
Pliskova, last year's U.S. Open runner-up, served seven aces, won 90 percent of her first service points and did not face a single break point opportunity.
"I wish I'd done better tonight, but Karolina was way too good for me and I bet she's going to win a slam soon," Cornet said.
"I had an amazing week here in Brisbane and enjoyed every moment. I'm proud I made it to the final, it wasn't easy but I did it. Of course, I couldn't make this last step but there's a lot of positives I can take out of it."
Sania wins doubles
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza picked up her first title of the season, combining with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to lift the Brisbane
International women's doubles title, but ended up losing the World No.1 crown to her partner.
The top-seeded Indo-American duo triumphed 6-2, 6-3 against the second-seeded Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final here.
The trophy, however, ended Sania's 91-week reign as the world No.1 doubles player in the WTA rankings. That position was taken over by Bethanie.
"I feel like I'm handing over Miss World No.1 crown," Sania said in her post-match speech.
The Indian had come into the tournament as a defending champion, having won it with Swiss ace martina Hingis last year.
"We always have good matches (against Vesnina/Makarova). It's great to come back as defending champion. Thank you to my partner and best friend. We go a long way, we play once a year, the last time we played, we won in Sydney," Sania said.
"I think we should play a lot more. Thanks for playing with me. I was No.1 in the world but congratulations to her for becoming No.1 now. If not me, than her, she has had an amazing year," she added.
Sania will go back to pairing with Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova in Sydney next week and the Australian Open, which starts on January 16.
Dimitrov vs Nishikori
Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov upset top seed and defending champion Milos Raonic of Canada at the Brisbane International on Saturday to set up a title clash against Japan's Kei Nishikori.
Seventh seed Dimitrov saved a set point in the opener on his way to a 7-6(7), 6-2 win over world number three Raonic in 88 minutes in the second semifinal at the Pat Rafter Arena.
World number five Nishikori had an almost identical win against Swiss U.S. Open champion Stan Wawrinka, who went down 7-6(3) 6-3 in the first semi-final of the warmup event for this month's Australian Open.
There was little to separate Dimitrov and 2016 Wimbledon finalist Raonic in the first set, both players making the most of their big serves and not offering a single break-point opportunity.
Dimitrov managed to nose ahead by edging the first set tiebreak 9-7 before racing away in the second with two breaks of serve to seal the match.
"I couldn't imagine a better scenario for sure," Dimitrov said in a court-side interview. "I have lot of respect for him and it's always a pleasure playing against him.
"Right now I am just focussed on my performance. In previous matches I wasn't returning as well. Against Milos, the only chance you have is to get into a rally against him."
Dimitrov has never won against his opponent in Sunday's final with Nishikori enjoying a 3-0 head-to-head record.
"Nishikori is one of the trickiest players out there," Dimitrov added. "He has a tremendous fighting spirit and has improved his game quite a bit.
"He has quite a few weapons if you think about it. It's not going to be an easy match for sure. But I am focussed on myself and what I need to improve and what I need to get better for Melbourne."
Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, won five of the final six points in the tiebreaker to claim the first set. After an early exchange of breaks in the second, the Rio Olympic bronze medallist got the decisive break in the seventh game.
"I'm feeling very happy to be in the final tomorrow (Sunday). I've tried many times and this is the first time to get to Sunday in Brisbane," the 27-year-old said.
"Especially beating Stan today, it's been a good start to the year.
"Dimi started playing much better last year, especially at the end of the season. He's going to be a tough opponent." - Reuters, PTI
