Karolina Pliskova sits on the cusp of the WTA’s top ten after reaching the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships last weekend, jumping from 18 to a career-high No. 13.
Heroes and Zeros: Wardrobe Malfunctions, Superfans and Murray's Curry
The woman she defeated in the semifinals, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, also finds herself at a career-high ranking at 20 in the world.
Pliskova, who has gone 15-5 with two finals and a semifinal to her name in 2015, admits that the experience has not been easy. Pliskova had to seek medical treatment during her final with Romania’s Simona Halep, and said that she came to Dubai already running on fumes, content to lose.
“I was just thinking, ‘okay, I will just go on the court, try, and maybe I will lose, I will not be mad at all.’ But then I won and I'm still winning,” she said.
Pliskova says that schedule will be a concern moving forward, especially if she keeps finding herself deep in draws. “I will think about the schedule and I will change it for sure, because like this I cannot continue anymore,” she said. “But, no, I don't feel--of course I feel tired, but I don't feel like bad. So when I'm playing well, I still think I can keep going from tournament to tournament. But it was hard because of the Fed Cup and everything, and because Australia and then Canada and Europe and here, Asia.”
Muguruza, who failed to convert a triple-break point that would have forced a deciding-set tiebreaker against Pliskova, was more focused on exacting revenge on the Czech than resting.
“I mean, very good week,” She said after the loss. “I won incredible matches. I mean, I'm now pissed because I lost this one, but I will play against her soon again. So let's see.”
Also rising in the rankings was Dubai champion Simona Halep, who returns to No. 3 in the rankings, replacing Petra Kvitova. Madison Keys, although inactive, rises to a career-high of 19.
On the men’s side Andy Murray leapfrogs Rafael Nadal to No. 3 in the world, while Donald Young, on the strength of his final run in Delray Beach, rises 11 spots to No. 45. Fabio Fognini and Ivo Karlovic each rose six spots, climbing to No. 22 and No. 23 in the world respectively.
Andreas Haider-Maurer was also a big riser this week, thanks to his semifinal in Rio. He rises 17 spots to 57 in the world, which is a career-high.