When Karolina Pliskova and Ashleigh Barty step out on to the Hard Rock Stadium court to contest the Miami Open final, they will bring with them very different styles of tennis.
Pliskova had to really battle her way into the final. She was a set down to Alize Cornet in the third round, and a set and a break down to Yulia Putintseva in the last 16. It seems, however, that her narrow survival against Putintseva woke Pliskova up. She did not drop a set in her next two matches, claiming excellent straight-sets wins over Marketa Vondrousova and Simona Halep. Her win over Halep was particularly impressive. The Romanian made a fast start and served for the first set, but was broken. Thereafter, Pliskova was in complete command and Halep won only one more game.
Barty also had to fight her way through a couple tough matches in order to reach the final. She was down a set to Kiki Bertens and had to battle hard to turn the match around in the second set. She was then taken the distance by Petra Kvitova in the quarterfinals, but took control in the third set and pulled away from the Czech star. Then despite going a break down in both sets against Anett Kontaveit, she beat the Estonian in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.
But how do these two players match up? Their games are, as mentioned above, certainly very different from one another. Pliskova has a very flat game, relying on her first-strike offensive capabilities to win her matches. She is one of the biggest servers on the WTA Tour, and if her serve doesn’t immediately win her the point, then her penetrating groundstrokes often will soon after.
Pliskova hits her groundstrokes with little topspin, but is able to provide enough margin that when she is playing well, she does not spray unforced errors. Her relatively flat strokes tend to race through the court and allow her to dominate matches, hitting corner-to-corner and keeping her opponents off balance and out of position. The line-drive trajectory of her groundstrokes gives her opponents little time to react. Her movement is also a lot better than she is often given credit for. Despite being over six feet tall, between her foot speed and her reach, she is able to track down a lot more balls than many expect.
Barty, on the other hand, hits anything but a flat ball, especially on the backhand side. The Australian is known for her wicked backhand slice, which often catches her opponents off-guard. Barty excels at moving the ball around the court, and as soon as the opportunity arrives, going for the winner, with the 22-year-old able to inject real pace into her forehand. She also has a good serve, which sets her up well to dictate the point with her slices and angled strikes. But Barty, though often offensive, does not possess the sort of bruising power that Pliskova can call upon.
Barty is, however, also a prolifically successful doubles player. She has reached the final of every Major and won last year’s US Open doubles title alongside Coco Vandeweghe and is still in contention for the Miami Open doubles title. Unsurprisingly, then, Barty’s volleying is world-class, and whilst Pliskova is also capable in the forecourt, she has reached two Grand Slam semifinals in doubles, she is no match for Barty at the net.
So what has happened in the past when these two players have gone head-to-head? Their matchups have, overall, been very even. The head-to-head is tied 2-2, and furthermore, it is split one win a piece on both grass, and more importantly in this case, hard court.
The only noticeable difference between the two players in their matchups is that Barty has won her head-to-head matches in three sets, while Pliskova has won her matches in two. Pliskova and Barty actually played in the round of 16 at the US Open last year, with Pliskova winning 6-4 6-4. However, given the vastly higher stakes in Miami, that match may not be too revealing about the direction this contest will go in, although the court surfaces are fairly similar.
Will Pliskova be able to hit through Barty or will Barty make it a game of cat-and-mouse? How will Pliskova’s huge serve and Barty’s ability to hit through tight windows hold up under pressure? Tomorrow, we’ll find out.
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