Karolina Pliskova is a Czech professional tennis player, who is a former world No 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on July 17, 2017, and holding the position for eight weeks. Known for her powerful serve and forehand, she has won 16 singles and five doubles titles on the WTA tour, 10 singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit, and over 20 million USD in prize money. She has reached two Grand Slam singles finals at the 2016 US Open and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
Karolina Pliskova was born on March 21, 1992, in Louny, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She started playing tennis at an early age. her biggest junior achievement is winning the Australian Open junior title in 2010. The same year she won also the Canadian Open Junior Championships.
Karolina Pliskova made her professional debut already in 2006 at the $10,000 Szeged / Erste Women’s Open. She lost in the first round, but proved to have a bright future in tennis.
In 2007, she took part in several ITF tournaments and even being too young she crossed the first round in many of them.
In 2008, Karolina Pliskova won her first ITF title at the $15,000 Bol (Croatia). The same year, she also debuted in the WTA Tour at the WTA 250 Livesport Prague Open, reaching the quarter-finals and losing to Victoria Azarenka.
Karolina Pliskova won two more ITF titles in 2009 – at the $25,000 W25 Grado (Italy) and $25,000 Noto (Japan). She also reached the semi-finals at the $25,000 W25 Tsukuba (Japan), $25,000 W25 Brno (Czech Republic), $15,000 Bol (Croatia), and $25,000 Fort Walton Beach, FL (USA).
In 2010, Karolina Pliskova continue with her great performance. She won the titles at the $50,000 Gifu (Japan) and $25,000 W25 Istanbul (Turkey), but also was the runner-up at the $50,000 Kurume (Japan).
Karolina Pliskova increased the level of the tournaments she took part in 2011. She won the titles at the $25,000 Makinohara (Japan), $25,000 Hamanako (Japan), was the runner-up at the $25,000 Bratislava (Slovakia), and reached the quarter-finals of the $100,000+H Taipei (Taiwan). She toom part at the WTA 250 Abierto Mexicano TELCEL Presentado Por HSBC, WTA 250 E-boks Danish Open, and WTA 1000 Toray Pan Pacific Open, but however lost at the first round on all of them.
In 2012, Karolina Pliskova made her Grand Slam tournament main draw debut at the 2012 French Open. She crossed through the qualifications and lost in the first round. Later, she played also in the main draw of Wimbledon, where also lost in the first round. However, during the season, she won the titles at the $25,000 W25 Grenoble (France) and $25,000 Zawada (Poland). Karolina Pliskova also played at the WTA 250 Citi Open, WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open, WTA 250 BMW Malaysian Open, and WTA 250 ASB Classic, but again without any significant success.
Karolina Pliskova won her first WTA title in 2013. She won the trophy at the WTA 250 BMW Malaysian Open. During the season she played at the WTA 1000 Miami Open presented by Itau, reaching the second round and the WTA 250 BNP Paribas Katowice Open, reaching the quarter-finals. Karolina Pliskova also played at the Grand Slam tournaments and reached the second round at the Wimbledon. She won the titles at the $50,000 Sanya (China) and was the runner-up at the $75,000 Nottingham (UK). Due to her improved results, she first time entered in the Top 100, ending the season WTA No 71.
In 2014, Karolina Pliskova made a breakthrough. She started the season very good and was the runner-up at the WTA 250 PTT Pattaya Open and WTA 250 Nurnberger Versicherungs, reached the third round of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells, the semi-finals of the WTA 250 BMW Malaysian Open. Later during the season, she reached the third round of the US Open and the WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open and was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open. Karolina Pliskova won the titles at the WTA 250 Hana Bank Korea Open and WTA 250 Upper Austria Ladies Linz. This great season skyrocketed her to the WTA No 23.
In 2015, Karolina Pliskova continue with her improvement and started the season at high speed. She was the runner-up at the WTA 500 Sydney International, the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, and the WTA 500 Rothesay Classic Birmingham. but also reached the semi-finals of the WTA 500 BNP Paribas Diamond Games and the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Miami Open. She also won WTA 250 Livesport Prague Open. Amid such strong results, Karolina Pliskova climbed to the world’s No 11 and took part in the Year End Championships at the Hengqin Life WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and reached the final, losing to Venus Williams.
Karolina Pliskova continue performing at a high level in 2016. She won the WTA 250 Rothesay Open Nottingham, reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open, and even won her most prestigious trophy so far at the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open. She was also the runner-up at the US Open and again took part in the Year End Championships at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SCglobal, but relagated in the groups..
In 2017, Karolina Pliskova started perfectly winning the title at the WTA 500 Brisbane International and reaching the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. She won also the title at the WTA 500 Qatar Total Open and reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open and the WTA 1000 Miami Open. At the French Open / Roland Garros, she reached the semi-finals and later in June won the title at the WTA 500 Rothesay International Eastbourne. By the end of the season, she reached the quarter-finals of the US Open and the WTA 1000 Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, as well as the semi-finals of the Year End Championships at BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SCglobal. Karolina Pliskova ended the season at the world’s No 4, while she reached the world’s No 1 for 6 weeks from July 16 to August 27.
Karolina Pliskova was among the top five players during the next season. She started strongly at the WTA 500 Brisbane International, reaching the semi-finals, and the Australian Open, reaching the quarter-finals. However, she failed to keep her top achievement at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open and WTA 1000 Miami Open, reaching only the quarter-finals in 2018. She won her first title for the season at the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and reached the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Madrid Open and the quarter-finals of the US Open. At the end of the season, she won her second title for the year at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open and was the runner-up at the WTA 250 Tianjin Open. Karolina Pliskova played again in the Year End Championships at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SCglobal, reaching the semi-finals. She ended the season as the world’s No 8.
In 2019, she made a fantastic season, improving her results. The year started with a trophy at the WTA 500 Brisbane International and reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Karolina Pliskova was fantastic at the next three Masters, reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open, as well as being the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Miami Open. She won the titles at the WTA 1000 Rome Open, WTA 500 Rothesay International Eastbourne, and the WTA 500 Zhengzhou Open. She reached the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open and WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. She played in the Year End Championships at the Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen and again reached only the semi-finals. She ended the season as the world’s No 2.
Karolina Pliskova won another title in 2020 at the WTA 500 Brisbane International. However, by the end of the season, she had a very short calendar. She was the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Rome Open and ended the season as the world’s No 6.
In 2021, Karolina Pliskova started with poor results. However, in May, she returned to the high level of results and was the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Rome Open, while in June she reached the final of Wimbledon, losing to the world’s No 1 Ashleigh Barty. She also was the runner-up at the WTA 1000 Canadian Open and reached the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Karolina Pliskova was unstoppable in the second part of the season, reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open and took part in the Year End Championships at the Akron WTA Finals Guadalajara. She ended the season as the world’s No 4.
Karolina Pliskova reached the semi-finals of the WTA 250 Internationaux de Strasbourg in 2022. She also reached the semifinals of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open and the quarter-finals of the US Open.
Karolina Pliskova is one of the most remarkable tennis players nowadays.
Karolina Pliskova photos
