World No. 6 Karolina Pliskova hasn’t really got going this season. She has played three tournaments, including the Australian Open, and has made an exit earlier than her ranking would suggest.
In her last match, the Czech player was beaten by compatriot Karolina Muchova 7-5, 7-5 in the third round of the Australian Open, and is keen to find her rhythm in the Qatar Total Open at the Khalifa Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha.
The lanky player is not too worried, either about her form or her future.
“Well, I don’t really want to look that much into the future or in the past right now, because anyway there is not much you can do about it. So, it’s mostly about being in the present. Then mostly the goal for me now is just to play as many tournaments or as many matches as I can, because I really feel like I’m missing that tournament rhythm,” Pliskova said on Monday.
The former world No. 1, who has won 16 singles and five doubles titles on the WTA, is confident that she is on the right path.
“Although I played some matches, I still don’t think I’m close to how I want to play. But other than that, I think in the practices everything is going quite well. My team is great, so everything is working. But I just feel I’m maybe missing a little bit more matches and the tournament mode or the rhythm, so I don’t feel like I’m playing the best. But I hope it’s going to come with me playing maybe more weeks, more tournaments, and having more matches,” said the 28-year-old.
Talking about the Doha event, she said, “It’s always nice to be back in Doha; of course, still memories from a couple years back when I won the title here. I think the conditions here are a little bit slower. I like that. Of course it can be windy, but let’s see what it’s going to be on my match day.”
Pliskova awaits the winner of today’s match between Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, the highest-ranked Arab player in WTA history, and Russian Anna Blinkova.
Jabeur had beaten Pliskova in the pre-quarters last time in Doha.
“She’s a tough opponent, especially here. I don’t know if there is going to be some crowd. Last year was quite, you know, tough. The crowd here was a little bit noisy (smiling). But other than that, I think she’s also a great player. She gives you a lot of different balls. I think it’s never going be easy with her. We also played in the US Open I think two years ago, so I think it was always quite a tricky and tough match against her. So it’s going to be definitely tough,” the 2017 champion said.
 
 
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