Pliskova blazes her way to Brisbane semis
Brisbane, January 4
Karolina Pliskova lost her way midway through a “strange” encounter with Ajla Tomljanovic, before recovering to blaze past the Australian 6-1 1-6 6-1 and into the Brisbane International semifinals.
After easing through the opening set in 26 minutes, Pliskova appeared to switch off as world No. 46 Tomljanovic switched gears to win five games without reply before levelling the contest at one set apiece. Pliskova was jolted back to life in the decider and showed the poise that has accompanied her rise up the rankings, as the world No. 8 raced to a 5-0 lead before sealing victory.
Standing between Pliskova and a second Brisbane final in three seasons is Croatian Donna Vekic. Vekic earlier dismantled last year’s finalist Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2 6-0.
Medvedev ousts Raonic
In the men’s draw, fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who beat former world No. 1 Andy Murray in his previous match, rallied to knock out Milos Raonic to reach the last-4. The Russian prevailed 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 over the 2016 winner to set up a meeting with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He claimed a hard-fought 6-4 7-6 (7-2) victory over Alex De Minaur in a high-quality quarterfinal. Tsonga and De Minaur traded early breaks in the opening set but the big Frenchman earned a decisive second service break in the ninth game. — Reuters
