One point away from making the Wimbledon final for the first time in her career, Karolina Pliskova accidentally tosses the ball into the air. She smiled and laughed briefly before she tried to serve her again.
It seemed as if he knew what would happen next.
Seconds later, she delivered an ace to register a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 win over Arya Sabalenka and advanced to her first major final in five years.
The smile spread widely on his face knew no bounds as he raised his arms in triumph.
After several seasons of being a strong presence in the second week of the Major, the 29-year-old Pliskova has struggled in the biggest stages since reaching the semi-finals at the 2019 Australian Open, from the third round since the tour's resumption. Couldn't move forward. in 2020. She entered Wimbledon after a few losses, including a second round exit at the French Open and early losses in both her grass lead-in events. She dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since 2016.
8 seed of the tournament and a 16-time champion on the WTA Tour, Pliskova was not seen as a challenger for the title at Wimbledon – she had never advanced past the Round of 16 at the All England. club.
Even Pliskova herself did not have high hopes.
Pliskova said, "I can't believe it because somehow the dream of getting into this tournament was to make the second week, because I [didn't] be in the second week for a while." "I never thought ... [making] the final."
Now, only Ashleigh Barty stands in the way of her first major title.
Pliskova looked all set to hoist the Grand Slam trophy after her run in the US Open final in 2016. After defeating Venus Williams in the fourth round, she defeated tournament favorite Serena Williams in straight sets in the semi-finals. Fans were shocked, but Pliskova was not.
"I had a goal today: to beat Serena," Pliskova said in her on-court interview at the time. "And that's what I did. I don't believe in it. In fact, I believe in it. I knew if I was playing my game I could beat anyone."
She hasn't lost since then. 1 ranked Angelique Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the final, but she proved she could compete with the best of the game. During the post-match news conference, she was asked how the experience will help her the next time she is in a major final.
"The next Grand Slam, I'm going to try to play like I was here from round one to the last," she replied.
It all seemed so certain. But nothing is guaranteed in the unpredictable world of women's tennis.
To open the 2017 season, Pliskova won the title in Brisbane and reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. She won another trophy in Qatar and made it to the semi-finals at the French Open. Despite a second round exit at Wimbledon, her past results and a grass-court title at Eastbourne propelled her to the world No. 1 ranking - a position she held for eight weeks.
At the time, she said that the way she earned the ranking was not what she had dreamed of as a child. She was happy to reach him, but she wanted to get there with a big win, not because others lost.
She became one of just six women in history to achieve the milestone without winning any majors. (Simona Halep soon joined the list.)
Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo won Grand Slams after taking the honors, and Caroline Wozniacki and Halep both did well in 2018, but Jelena Yankovic and Dinara Safina never did. Initially, it looked like Pliskova would eventually land with the former group and legitimize the rankings. But as the years went by and the results slowed down, it became a matter of debate among fans – would she ever do that? Did she deserve the ranking? - and a subject he has been asked countless times. Being the only active player in the elusive club hasn't dampened the pressure or expectations.
Now, he has another chance to change history and perceptions. She is currently hoping to return to the top 10 of the next ranking at No. 7, and a win on Saturday will move her to No. 4.
And while it's not No 1, given his unfavorable draw at the All England Club this time around, it won't be discussed if he deserves his ranking. Pliskova had to take every win in a draw throughout the fortnight, to no avail. She opened the game against Tamara Zidansek, who reached the French Open semifinals last month, and faced 2019 US Open quarterfinalist Donna Vekic in the second round. In the fourth round she faced red-hot Lyudmila Samsonova, who was losing her first career title in Berlin.
Despite stiff opposition, Pliskova did not miss a set as she entered the semi-finals - and no opponent had won more than three games in a set against her.
"You need to win [a] doubles [k] match to feel that way and play the best tennis," Pliskova said. "It's really hard to play [well] in the first round, especially when you lose [a] couple [k] times in the first round, not really playing that amazing. I think I started this year I was also playing super tough players, they always went deep into tournaments. I think I was close to playing at a good level, but somehow I was not able to actually win all those matches.
"It's not like I'd be playing terrible, sometimes you're just missing a little bit and you're not doing anything wrong. I think sometimes it's so important to just hang in there, which I did. I didn't really change anything. ... I guess you need luck. [I'm] so glad it worked out because we [were] just trying to play nice for a while were."
In Thursday's semi-final against tournament No. 2 seed and match-entering favorite Sabalenka, both players brought a high from the start. Pliskova had a crucial double fault in the final game of the first set, and Sabalenka seized control while taking the opener.
Later, Pliskova said that she was disappointed and knew there were many chances to win the set, but didn't let her emotions get the better of her. Sabalenka said she felt a change in pace in the second set with a key serve game from Pliskova and that there was nothing she could do from that point on.
"After that, she came back like crazy, like really cool, and I couldn't do anything," Sabalenka said. "I mean, I think in [those] games, in the second set, when he broke me, and in the third set, I think in [those] games I did everything I could. Overall, I did everything I could today, but he played really well. I mean, very well. I did my best."
Pliskova was broken only once in the match and had 13 aces to her name. He will need to bring the same game and intensity against current world No. 1 and 2019 French Open champion Barty on Saturday.
🤯 @KaPliskova and @SabalenkaA served 32 aces in one match!
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 8, 2021
The most in a ladies' match at The Championships since records began…#Wimbledon | @IBMUKI pic.twitter.com/iNjWygIZ0N
The two have played seven times throughout their careers, with Barty taking a 5–2 lead. While Barty won her last meeting 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals in Stuttgart in April, Pliskova was victorious in her only major match at the US Open in 2018.
"She has one Grand Slam, of course she wants to win another one," Pliskova said. "I'm not expecting anything easy."
Ahead of the 2021 season, Pliskova began working with former coach of Naomi Osaka, Sasha Bajin. She said that she believed she could win it from the very beginning of the tournament, and she reminded him after the win against Sabalenka.
Pliskova, who hasn't won a tournament since Brisbane in January 2020, didn't seem confident enough, nor did she wax poetic as Barty did about what the title would mean to her. However, it is clear that he is up to the challenge and is happy to play another match.
"It's the final, anything can happen," Pliskova said on Thursday. "I know [Barty] has a Grand Slam, but [it] is also the first Wimbledon final for him. I think we both have good chances. Hopefully it's going to be a good match to watch too, because It's always interesting with him.
"We'll see what's going to happen."