Pliskova and Kvitova have done it again!

I’m disappointed that Serena is out of the Australian Open but pleased she beat the world number 1, Halep because it’ll boost her world ranking and seeding in future tournaments.

However I’m delighted that the Czech women, Kvitova and Ka. Pliskova, are marching on and make up 50% of the semi-finalists. Here’s hoping for an all Czech final! They both deserve to win the title. Both are playing even better than last year.

Pliskova played excellently against Osaka in Tokyo last year so has the game to beat her. However, Osaka may have tried to learn from it so could play slightly differently this time around. The key for Pliskova, I feel, is to get out of the starting blocks quickly and keep up the pressure on Osaka because she does throw her racquet about when upset and losing, as she did this tournament against Hsieh. Osaka made a comeback in that match by improving the speed of her footwork, making more small, adjusting steps, meaning she moved better and transferred her weight into her shots more effectively so hitting the ball much harder, creating winners. So Pliskova needs to remain positive at all times, no matter what the score is,  and be prepared for Osaka changing what she’s doing and improving during the match. Hsieh was doing a great job of keeping Osaka guessing, wrong footing her, exposing slower footwork by varying her shots and placement as well as getting weaker shots from her by stretching her out-wide. Osaka likes to pin you back on the baseline and dictate the points. She likes to rally so it’s important for her opponents to keep the points short before Osaka settles into a slugfest! Pliskova has firepower and variety of shot and will need both aspects of her game to get Osaka on the ropes and keep her there. To get the lead and maintain it, Pliskova will need to both serve and return well consistently and keep her feet moving which she is doing really well this year. Footwork is one area that possibly Serena needs to improve on – she’s fast but does not take enough small steps to get into the best, on-balance position for her power-shots. Serena could also do with reducing the amount of effort she expends running to the ball. Pliskova’s efficient footwork means she is never caught-out even if off-balance and therefore has more stamina deeper into a long match.

Kvitova has played Collins recently so knows how she’s playing at the moment. Again, like Osaka, Collins often ends up just blocking the ball back when stretching out-wide or returning an into-the-body shot. Kvitova is more powerful than Collins but Collins can cope with it and tries to match it by using Kvitova’s hard shots to help her generate more pace off her own shots. Collins becomes audibly over-confident when ahead in the match so ideally Kvitova needs a pattern of match play whereby she contains Collin’s game so she doesn’t get the momentum. Keeping the points short and keeping Collins on the run may help because she’s a typical textbook player having come from the American college system. Collins becomes despondent and emotional when she feels the match is running away from her so overpowering her and mixing up shots frustrates her and may give Kvitova a quicker win.

Good luck to both Czech women. Come on and get to the final! I’m cheering you on!