Karolina Pliskova is thrilled she finally defeated Petra Kvitova, reaches WTA Finals semis

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  • A beaming Karolina Pliskova could not hide her excitement after claiming her first victory over fellow Czech Petra Kvitova to secure a place in the WTA Finals semis for a second straight year.

    Pliskova was 0-3 against Kvitova entering Thursday’s clash, and had extra incentive to defeat her Fed Cup team-mate, admitting there has been tense history between them.

    While the full extent of the issues was never revealed, Czech coach Jiri Vanek told reporters in Singapore that Pliskova was not too pleased when he left her team to join Kvitova’s at the end of 2016.

    Pliskova had taken just one set off of Kvitova in their three previous meetings but on Thursday, she was determined to change that. The No. 7 needed 82 minutes to defeat Kvitova 6-3, 6-4 and post a tour-leading 49th victory of the 2018 season.

    “It was a huge victory for me. I’m not going to say [it wasn’t], because I never beat her, and there is some past between us that I just was fighting for this victory a lot,” said Pliskova after the match.

  • WTA Finals: Fatigued Petra Kvitova feeling ‘weird’ ahead of Singapore clash with Karolina Pliskova

  • “So it means a lot, and for sure, to get it to go to semi-finals after beating her, it’s just special. But obviously after the first set, I didn’t know that she cannot make the semis anymore, but it was more about me.

    “I just know like, look, I have set, I know I’m pretty good playing three-setters this year, so I just believed I can win this match by having the first set done. I felt pretty confident actually out there. Yeah, pretty happy about my performance.”

    Kvitova had won 27 of her last 28 matches against Czech players, with that sole defeat coming against Pliskova’s sister Kristyna in Charleston earlier this year.

    “I already saw my messages from my parents, and they said they are very happy that we both beat her,” added Pliskova.

    Kvitova ends her WTA season on a five-match losing streak – she hadn’t lost five in a row since 2010 – but still has plenty to be proud of, wrapping up a year in which she won five titles and returned to the top-five in the rankings. She still has the Fed Cup final coming up in Prague, where the Czech take on USA.

    “This season was always going to end with a smile on my face. No matter what. Was it a perfect week? No. Was it an incredible season? Yes. See you at the Fed Cup Final,” tweeted Kvitova.

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