By Chris Oddo | Sunday January 6, 2019
Karolina Pliskova battled back from the brink to defeat Lesia Tsurenko and claim her 12th career title.
Photo Source: Getty AsiaPac
Karolina Pliskova rallied from a set and break down to claim a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Lesia Tsurenko on Sunday at the Brisbane International.
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Pliskova claims her second title at Brisbane in three years and improves her lifetime record at the event to 13-2. The former World No.1 will rise to No.7 in the world in next week’s rankings.
Tsurenko entered the evening with a 4-0 lifetime record in finals, and served for the match at 5-4 in the second set. The Ukrainian falls to 2-4 lifetime against Pliskova, but will rise to a career-high ranking of 24 in the world as a result of her run to the final, which featured an upset of Naomi Osaka in the semifinals for her second career Top 5 win.
“I have great memories here, always,” said Pliskova after the final. “For sure I’ll be back next year here.”
Pliskova fell behind early and could not match the consistency of Tsurenko for a set and a half. The Ukrainian played steady tennis and was on fire with her backhand down the line.
But Pliskova turned up the aggression in the second set to rally from 6-4, 4-2 down, and she took advantage of some nerves by Tsurenko late in the set as she powered through the final three games to force a decider.
Pliskova took a 3-0 lead in the decider as Tsurenko struggled to deal with a left ankle issue—after the Ukranian rolled over the ankle dangerously she had to see the trainer and get a firmer tape job.
Just when it looked like Tsurenko might retire, she found her form and managed a few holds to keep things close, but by this stage of the match, Pliskova’s power game was clicking—she would not be denied.