Monica Puig let the biggest upset of 2017 slip out of her grip Saturday night. Third ranked Karolina Pliskova overcame a dismal first set to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Stadium One at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Czech had plenty of practice against the Puerto Rican who she had defeated three times prior to their fourth meeting. Pliskova never allowed the reigning Olympic gold medalist to win five games or more in any of the six sets she has won in the past. Pliskova made the semifinals last year and stood as a heavy favorite to reach the final. Puig’s force showed in her opening round match where she dispatched Danielle Collins in straight sets Wednesday allowing the American just two games. With her clearly able to knock down big names in recent memory, taking down the world number three would sit as a heavy task.
Puig’s motivation had her ahead in the opening game but Pliskova’s defense of serve forced deuce to begin. Four breaks elapsed with the Czech forcing her way to a victory. Puig cut her off in the fourth before securing the first break on her second attempt. She added another win with solid work on service that overwhelmed her opponent across court. it was becoming a firm response by the Puerto Rican who had a surprising 3-0 against the third seed who was down by more than she thought.
Pliskova was saved by the errors of Puig who put a little too much speed on her returns landing long and taking her first win in the fourth. Despite dropping the serve, Puig answered with a massive triple break before capping it with a winner that Pliskova had no chance of hitting. it turned into a 4-1 rout leading David Kotzya to calm his player and get her to regroup while she had the chance. The reactions didn’t get better for the Czech leaving Puig enough room to dictate and move to a 5-1 stance.
Sympathies came into play in the seventh as Pliskova had herself on the verge of a serious defeat in the first set. Puig handed her a key point but forced deuce to capture the break and the set that took 30 minutes to complete. It was clear that Pliskova had very little energy coming into the first set where her service as a whole was dismal landing 6 of 15 on the first and 4 of 15 on the second. Returning the ball was no better succeeding less than 45 percent.
Brushing her performance off was precisely how the second set needed to begin as she rallied to an important break to get on the board first. The hope of getting her serve to cooperate was another story as she couldn’t maintain a hold on Puig leading to deuce which the Puerto Rican countered on through two breaks. Despite losing out on a service hold, the world number three secured another victory playing well against the hard shots from Puig.
An important hold for the world number three became the first for Pliskova in the last six decisions. Puig followed suit in the fifth but couldn’t add a break as the Czech saw her game come together on both sides. Maintaining serve was occurring for both players while Pliskova couldn’t fully hold back Puig for another break.
She did take a step in the right direction taking a 5-3 stance on Puig who wanted nothing more than to pull off the upset. The need to hold on serve was still important which the 23 year did so but a break in the tenth would slightly change the hold of control forcing pressure on Pliskova to maintain her skills. She did just that showing comfort for the first time all match long to win the second and force Puig to go all the way.
The Puerto Rican was more than ready for the challenge and came through with a rush of speed to fly way with an early lead. She won nine of the last 13 points to be up a break on the Czech hunting for the ultimate goal. She made it 3-0 before the dominance began to subside allowing Pliskova to cap two wins and get within reach of a tie. The attempt came in the sixth with a game point save to force deuce and recover from the three-game deficit.
Adding salt to the wound, the world number three made it a fourth straight game winner surpassing Puig to the point of taking full control. She reached 5-3 on the Puerto Rican but couldn’t pull off the break against the Olympic gold medalist. Puig was ready to send things to the brink in the tenth but mistakes rattled her at the wrong moment. Unforced errors handed the world number three triple match points before a long ball behind the baseline ended things in just under two hours.
The complete turnaround from being down a set to leveling through two was a feat not pulled off by many. The actions from both players could have gone either way until the final games spelled out the result. Puig cost herself a third round with unforced errors counting more than ever as her returns suffered greatly scoring just five of 24 from Pliskova. The thrilling battle between the two wouldn’t be forgotten but for the world number three, it allowed her a moment to breathe a sigh of relief and set herself for a shot to play Irina-Camelia Begu on Sunday.
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