Missing Olympics Was Key Ingredient for Pliskova in Cincinnati

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Missing Olympics Was Key Ingredient for Pliskova in Cincinnati

Karolina Pliskova tells WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen that she got a lot of “ugly” messages when she announced that she’d be skipping the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, but the 24-year-old Czech is happy about the decision despite the insensitive reaction from some fans. Pliskova claimed the biggest title of her career on Sunday, defeating Angelique Kerber in the final of the Western and Southern Open in straight sets and she says that being rested and fresh was one of the key contributing factors to her success in Cincinnati.

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“Definitely for me would not be possible playing in the Olympics,” Pliskova told reporters on Sunday after the final. “I don't know how I would play there, but would be something different for me to go there, and maybe tiring as well. Even with the flights it wasn't easy for the girls to get here and then to play, so I'm really happy for the decision what I made. You just can see that it paid off.”

It wasn’t the only reason that Pliskova won the title. The bigger reason is the fact that Pliskova is a rising phenom who is finally figuring out how to save some energy for the later rounds of tournaments and how to win on the big stage.

“I'm always learning from the tournaments and finals what I've played,” said the world No. 11. “This tournament I was, like I said, improving round to round. That's the main thing, that you can play the best tennis in the final.

“I remember the tennis this year in Eastbourne and I was playing my best tennis I think in the third or the second round. Which can't be possible. You cannot win a tournament like this. So this is—it should be like this. You have to play the best tennis against those players in semifinal and final, otherwise you don't have the chance to beat them.

Pliskova has no lack of confidence in her game. And anyone who has ever seen her brand of tennis—which comes packed with easy power, a repeatable and lethal serve, and a very mature on-court demeanorcould easily understand why. She’s a confident player who just needs to marry that belief with a sense of opportunism. She did that in a big way at Cincinnati, where she defeated Garbiñe Muguruza and Angelique Kerber back-to-back. The Czech entered the weekend with a 1-12 record against the WTA’s Top 5. She’s now won two in a row against them to go with her biggest career title.

Can Pliskova keep producing wins like these consistently?

“I always believe, and I believe I can—there is I would say 99 percent of the players I can beat all of them if I play good tennis,” Pliskova said on Saturday in Cincinnati. “But it's not always (that I play a good match). But with this victory, even if it was a little bit easier than I was expecting, I believe I can win a big tournaments and even slams later in my life.”

As she prepares to New York, Pliskova will have to deal with new expectations and a few skeletons in the closet. She’s played 17 majors in her career and has still yet to reach the second week. Something about that doesn’t make sense.

Will she keep it rolling in New York, or has Pliskova peaked too early again? Only time will tell. Pliskova is not going to get too stressed about it. She’ll celebrate, have some rest, and get back on the horse.

“I feel very good now, especially on the hard court,” she said. “I have enough matches. That's what counts before US Open. I just take a rest and still try to prepare as I prepared for this tournament… I have to play this tennis at Grand Slams as well.”

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