Stanford: Rising star Karolina Pliskova powered her way into the final of the WTA Stanford tennis with a 6-2, 7-5 straight set win over Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Czech, who will break into the top 10 in world rankings next week, easily took down giant-killer Lepchenko, who upset top seed Caroline Wozniacki earlier in the week.
“I really enjoyed the semis today and I’m happy I’m still improving match by match,” Pliskova said.
“I finally lost my serve in the second set, the first time I lost my serve this tournament, but I think it was just time to lose my serve, and she was playing some really good shots in that game. I’m really happy to be in another final and I’ll try my best to win the title.”
With her semi-final win, Pliskova books a spot in Sunday’s final against fifth seeded Angelique Kerber. Pliskova will be looking avenge a loss to Kerber in the final of the WTA Birmingham tournament earlier this year.
Kerber defeated Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-1 in the first semi-final Saturday.
Fourth seeded Pliskova was in control for most of the match. She easily took the first set then compiled a 4-2 lead in the second.
REUTERS
