Karolina Pliskova in the tennisnet interview: "On-court coaching? I hate it!"
Karolina Pliskova (WTA No. 17) is a constant in world tennis, after her comeback the ex-number 1 is back on top. Before her quarterfinal at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix against Iga Swiatek, the Czech took the time to chat.
by Florian Goosman from Stuttgart
last edit: Apr 21, 2023, 08:48 am
Karolina, a few years ago we talked about your driver's license and you said it was difficultto get it:you live in Monte Carlo, you have to take the test in French but you can't speak it well, maybe you want to get itinPrague… How does that look now?
(laughs) It's still the same. It's still difficult. I travel so much, I rarely stay home for long. But the driver's license is not my big dream either. I know I'll have to do it sometime when I have kids. But that will have to wait until the end of my career.
What about the Porsche you won here in Stuttgart in 2018?
I still have it! My husband drives it, he drives me around in it.
Not bad either! And this year you could add a second one. You're in the quarterfinals, now it's up against Iga Swiatek. Your last and only encounter so far did not go well for you (Pliskova lost in the 2021 Rome final 0:6, 0:6, ed.) . Do you have to play against Iga differently than usual, against her heavy spin?
Iga is one of the toughest opponents on clay, having won twice at Roland Garros. Nobody likes to play against her on clay. But the conditions in Stuttgart are different, it's faster. I trained with her before the tournament, that was okay. I know what to expect. It's also her first match on clay and you never play your best tennis when you switch to a new surface. For me, however, little changes. I have to play my tennis, adjust little things like my position on the court.
They play very classic, very elegant tennis. Some people always complain : She moves too little. Have many coaches tried to tinker with your footwork ?
You get used to these comments. Yes, I might not move that well, but I have a serve, a forehand. Tennis is not just about moving. Other players move better, but they don't have my power. And if you look at the list of winning shots - I believe that power decides the matches. Elena Rybakina or Aryna Sabalenka are also not the best when it comes to moving. But when you play that aggressively nobody has a chance to get the ball, even if she's the fastest ever. Tennis has become very fast, so this type of game is the best option. But of course: I'm working on getting faster, even now that I'm not the youngest anymore. But sometimes it also depends on how you see the ball.
If you try too hard to change your footwork that suits your game, is there a risk of messing up your game?
It is exactly like that. And I can run, so I get a lot of balls. But that won't win me any matches. In the end, I have to be the one who decides the rally.
You have been working with Sascha Bajin again since this year, after a brief separation in mid-2022. How did that come about – and how did you get back together?
We had a great year with the 2021 Wimbledon final. Then I had my injury (wrist, ed.) . After my comeback, I had trouble getting my rhythm back. Sometimes in such cases you think you need new input from other people. For a few weeks, that wasn't a bad decision. But then I expected a certain level from certain people and it didn't come. I realized how much Sascha did - he does so much more than other coaches. He lives it, he throws everything in! He's in the gym with me, pushing me. So I tried to take him back - and he took me back.
Keyword coaching: On-court coaching is now allowed. A good thing?
(laughs) I hate it! Sascha often wants me to come see him, but I never do. I like to look for solutions myself. If he tells me how to play the next point and then I lose it... I'm even more annoyed. I prefer not to talk to him during matches. But of course, if the opponent hits really well and I can't do much to counter it, I listen to what he says.
You had talked about your wrist injury. How much does that still bother you? After his operations, Juan Martin del Potro spoke of needing two or three hours of extra treatment every day.
That's not the case with me, everything is back to how it was before. But when the injury was acute, I felt like my hand didn't belong to me. It was a big injury. Maybe things have changed a bit, but I've gotten used to it. It's been a year and a half now. But it wasn't easy when I had these problems.
Especially since wrist problems occupy many players for a long time. Dominic Thiem is still struggling to hit his old forehand.
Yes, it was my right hand too, you do everything with it. You also need the touch. If you have a leg injury, it's different. In tennis, centimeters count.
Finally, you have one more mystery to unravel: the white band on your racquet. There are two theories on the internet: First, that sometimes you want to keep a certain side of the racquet up. Second, that it's a lucky charm that your father introduced.
It's actually a lucky charm, a white grip tape. When I was little, my dad used to string my racquets and tie it to it. Now I'm doing it myself.
But your twin sister Krystina didn't have a tape on her racquets...
Not anymore. She had it too for a while, but it didn't bring her that much luck (laughs) .
She had a child in 2022. Is she planning a comeback?
She wants to try, but not until next year.
Karolina, thank you very much for your time and all the best!
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