“Being Able to Flip That Switch”: Ashleigh Barty on Saving 2 Match Points Against Karolina Pliskova at Stuttgart Open 2021

The WTA Stuttgart Open is living up to the promise of delivering entertaining matches with several top-10 players featured in the main draw. A lot of top women players preferred Stuttgart over Miami open as it will be a perfect way to begin their clay-court season.

In the first quarter-final, number one seed Ashleigh Barty pulled off an incredible victory against Karolina Pliskova 2-6,6-1,7-5 in a three-set thriller. The Aussie player initially struggled to put any pressure on Pliskova. Just when it was expected to become one-sided affair, Barty switched the gears by destroying the Czech 6-1 in the second.

“I wasn’t able to build any pressure”- Ashleigh Barty on losing the first set

Speaking to the reporters after the match, Barty said, “In a sense, it was probably a match of two sets. In the first set, I wasn’t able to build any pressure. Pliskova was too good on her serve and even on the return games.”

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The Aussie did well in note letting the debacle of the first affect her performance going into the second set. Touted to be one of the players to like bouncing back after being down a set, Barty found a way to be dominant right from the start of the second set.

“But being able to flip that switch right from the first game of the second set was important”,  Barty on her quick transition after being dominated in the first set.

The match played out like a show of strength between the players. While Pliskova commanded the first set, Barty was able to return the favor by clinching the second. Now, the deciding set was reliant on which player stays resilient for long enough.

Pliskova’s resilience wasn’t enough to win the match

Not to say that Pliskova wasn’t resilient enough, In fact, she was a better player than Barty when it comes to playing big points. The Czech was able to convert all the three break points on the Barty serve and saved 14 break-points throughout the match.

Despite this incredible effort, Pliskova’s game began to falter as she served for the match. Barty pounced on this opportunity and got a break point in her fifth attempt.

Talking about that brutal third set, Barty commented, “To make the third set more of a physical match was what we were after, and over time we were able to get the match back on my terms. I had plenty of opportunities in that third set, so I just wanted to press again and really make her earn that last game.”

With this victory, Ashleigh Barty moves into her third semi-final this year. She will now face Elina Svitolina for a place in the finals of the Stuttgart Open.

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