Tennis – Brisbane International – Women’s Final – Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, Australia, January 6, 2019 Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova celebrates with the trophy after winning the final against Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko REUTERS/Patrick Hamilton
January 6, 2019
Fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova reeled off 14 straight points to survive a second-set collapse and beat Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko for her second career Brisbane International title on Sunday in Australia.
Pliskova, who won here in 2017, was down a set and at 3-5 and two points away from defeat when she rallied on her serve at deuce to win the game and begin her comeback in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.
Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, credited a similar match in the first round with giving her the confidence to rally.
“I think this was a very important match. I had similar one in the first round which I was losing set and break, and of course, when you’re able to turn these matches around, it gives you some extra and different confidence,” she said.
Pliskova now has a 4-2 lead in her overall series against Tsurenko, who needed a medical timeout after rolling her ankle in the third set.
ASB Classic
No. 2 seed Julia Goerges of Germany ended the surprising run by Canadian teenage qualifier Bianca Andreescu, beating her 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the final in Auckland, New Zealand.
Andreescu was in her maiden final after stunning top seed Caroline Wozniacki, No. 3 seed Su-wei Hsieh and former No. 1 Venus Williams.
The 18-year-old, who is 152nd in the WTA world rankings, looked like she was headed for another stunner when she dominated the first set against the defending champion Goerges.
But Goerges opened the second set with a break and held off a late rally by Andreescu to force a third set.
Andreescu, showing signs of wearing down, was unable to find any answers in the third set, falling behind by a break on her first serve and 4-1 just a few games later.
“It is disappointing but I can’t complain — I played (qualifiers), I wasn’t supposed to make the finals,” Andreescu said. “I’m really proud that mentally I was able to hang on in there.”
–Field Level Media
