UPSET! Karolina Pliskova Survived a Three-Set Battle and Ousted No.2 Seed Aryna Sabalenka to Reach Maiden Finals at Wimbledon Championships 2021

After a straight-forward quarter-final roundup at Wimbledon Championships, there were two exciting women’s singles semi-final matchups for fans to get excited. One of them includes the current world number two – Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian faced Karolina Pliskova in the second-semifinal on center court.

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Pliskova, who has been struggling with consistency off late, has redeemed herself at SW19 over the last two weeks as she overpowered some tough opponents in her route to the semis.

On the other hand, world number two Aryna Sabalenka, who was projected for long as a grand slam champion, has found her range during this fortnight at Wimbledon. In comparison to Pliskova, Sabalenka faced a lot of tough opponents in the form of Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina, and Katie Boulter.

Aryna Sabalenka won a closely contested first set against Karolina Pliskova

Having played against each other two before on the WTA tour, it’s suffice to say that both the players knew each other’s game well. Let’s see how the match progressed.

Anyone who follows the WTA tour would realize that Pliskova’s serve has been her strength all along. Well, she didn’t show any weakness in that department as she was barely on backfoot right throughout the first set.

In fact, it was Sabalenka who was pushed to the limit on serve as she had to fend off eight break points in the initial set. The Czech player, on the other hand, faced only one break point, but Sabalenka successfully converted it to win the first set, 7-5.

Even though Pliskova was the better player on paper, her inability to close out games in crucial moments came back to haunt her once again.

Pliskova won the next two sets to reach her maiden Wimbledon final

The second set proceeded in the same way as the first. There was only one break point in the entire set. However, this time, it was Pliskova who broke the Belarusian and got an early lead.

Since the break of serve, both the players served extremely well. In the end, it was the Czech player who took advantage the single break and won the second set, 6-4.

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Coming to the third set, Pliskova carried the momentum forward as she broke Sabalenka initially. Right from the first set, there were very few baseline rallies between the two players.

Both Sabalenka and Pliskova looked for winners as each player tried to outwit the other. After being a break down in the deciding set, the Belarusian couldn’t put any pressure on her opponent’s serve.

In the end, it was the former world number one who served for the match at 5-4. With huge serving being the prime weapon, Pliskova dominated Sabalenka and won the game to reach Wimbledon finals for the first time in her career.

The Czech player will meet Ashleigh Barty in the women’s singles finals at SW19.

Also read: ?Quick Decisions?: Karolina Pliskova Opens Up About Her Preparations Ahead of Wimbledon Semi-final Clash Against Aryna Sabalenka