Karolina Pliskova juggles past Bethanie Mattek-Sands to win the title – BMW Malaysian Open 2013
World number 84, Karolina Pliskova, rallied from a set down to beat the 27-year-old American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in the final of the BMW Malaysian Open on Sunday to clinch her first WTA title of the career at Kuala Lumpur.
The 20-year-old Czech bamboozled her opponent with a late onslaught in the final set to close out the match 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.
Pliskova stated, “I was really impressed with the way Bethanie was playing. She was really on fire. If Bethanie carries on playing like that her ranking can definitely get back to the Top 30 or Top 20.”
The runners-up Mattek-Sands confessed, “I always believed I could do well again. It was just a matter of going on the court and doing it. Sticking to my game plan and being aggressive has really helped. I've been using my serve
really well and attacking returns, and my game is definitely going in the right direction. Wins always help your confidence, but you have to get the confidence before you get the wins.”
Mattek-Sands started the contest with an impressive show; ran across the court smoothly and grabbed the first breakthrough in the second game to exert pressure on her rival. She was leading the scores 4-1 when the second blow for
the 84th ranked Czech was witnessed. The American wasted little time in closing out the opening set with a serve hold.
The second set witnessed an early scare for both players but they were able to survive the onslaught and continued the see-saw battle until the first 10 games. Pliskova held the serve without losing a breakpoint in the most critical
stage. However, the Czech’s rival was unable to handle the scoreboard pressure and fell apart in the 12th game that enforced the final set into play.
Pliskova escaped an early onslaught from Mattek-Sands to keep the scores on serves. Scores moved on to 3-2 in favour of the Czech who grabbed a vital breakthrough in the sixth game to take the lead. She held her serve without making
a single mistake and kept the scores gap intact until the end to win her maiden professional title.
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