Karolina Pliskova is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. She has achieved the distinction of being ranked world No. 1 in women’s singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), maintaining this ranking for a total of eight weeks, and has also been ranked world No. 11 in doubles. Throughout her career on the WTA Tour, Karolina Pliskova has secured 17 singles titles and five doubles titles, in addition to reaching two significant singles finals at the 2016 US Open and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
Born on March 21, 1992, in Louny, Czech Republic, Karolina Pliskova began her journey in tennis at a young age, demonstrating remarkable talent and skill. She clinched the 2010 Australian Open junior title by defeating Laura Robson in the girls’ final.
In 2012, Karolina Pliskova made her debut in a senior Grand Slam tournament main draw at the 2012 French Open. She successfully navigated through the qualifications, overcoming Dia Evtimova, Tamaryn Hendler, and Laura Robson. However, due to her inexperience, she was defeated in the first round by world No. 8, Marion Bartoli, in straight sets.
Karolina Pliskova secured her inaugural WTA title in 2013 at the Malaysian Open. She overcame multiple seeded competitors to advance to the final, where she faced Bethanie Mattek-Sands, triumphing in a three-set match. Later, in October at the Generali Ladies Linz, Karolina Pliskova achieved her first career doubles title with her sister Kristyna, making them the first twins in history to jointly win a doubles title on the tour.
The 2014 season marked a significant turning point for Karolina Pliskova. She advanced to her second career WTA tour final in Pattaya City, where she triumphed over top-50 competitors Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sorana Cîrstea, before ultimately falling to Ekaterina Makarova in the final match. In May, she reached her third career final in Nuremberg, where she was defeated by the second seed, Eugenie Bouchard, in a three-set match. By July, she had entered the top-50 rankings and achieved a notable victory against world No. 9, Ana Ivanovic, in the second round of the US Open. Following her participation in America, she reached two finals in consecutive weeks – first in Hong Kong, where she lost to Sabine Lisicki, and then in Seoul, where she secured her second career title by defeating Varvara Lepchenko in the final. In October, she claimed her third title and second of the year in Linz. As an alternate, Karolina Pliskova participated in a round-robin format at the season-ending Tournament of Champions, stepping in for top seed Ekaterina Makarova, but lost her only match against Flavia Pennetta.
Karolina Pliskova commenced the 2015 season at the Brisbane International, where she triumphed over former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion, Victoria Azarenka, in the opening round, only to be defeated in the subsequent round. She achieved her first WTA Premier-level final at the Sydney International, overcoming Carla Suarez Navarro and Angelique Kerber, before succumbing to fellow Czech, Petra Kvitova, in two tie-breaking sets. As a result of this performance, she entered the world’s top 20 for the first time in her career. In February, she made her debut for the Czech team in the first round of the 2015 Fed Cup World Group, winning both of her matches against Françoise Abanda and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada, contributing to a 4–0 victory for the Czechs in Quebec. Karolina Pliskova participated in the 2015 Dubai Championships, reaching the final but ultimately losing to top seed Simona Halep. She was the top seed in her home tournament in Prague, where she secured the title after defeating fellow Czech Lucie Hradecka in another three-set contest, marking her fourth career title. Karolina Pliskova reached additional finals at the Birmingham Classic and Stanford Classic, in both instances losing to Angelique Kerber. She reached a tour-leading sixth final at the WTA Elite Trophy but was defeated by Venus Williams in straight sets. She concluded the year ranked No. 11 in singles.
Karolina Pliskova commenced her 2016 season at the Hopman Cup, where she teamed up with Jiri Vesely to represent the Czech Republic. She achieved singles victories against Jarmila Wolfe and Victoria Duval. She advanced to the quarterfinals in Sydney and reached the third round at the Australian Open. After receiving a first-round bye at Indian Wells, Karolina Pliskova triumphed over Shelby Rogers and Ana Ivanovic, both in straight sets. She subsequently defeated Johanna Konta in three sets and secured another straight sets victory against the emerging talent Daria Kasatkina, before being defeated in three sets by the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. Karolina Pliskova began her clay-court season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she reached the third round. She then participated in the Prague Open, reaching the semifinals, but was eliminated in the second round of the Madrid Open. Her clay-court season concluded disappointingly as she lost to the 108th ranked player in the world, Shelby Rogers, in the first round of the French Open. Karolina Pliskova captured her first title of the year at the Nottingham Open. However, she was defeated in the first round of the Birmingham Classic by Barbora Strycova and reached the final of the Eastbourne International, which she lost to Dominika Cibulkova. At Wimbledon, Karolina Pliskova overcame Yanina Wickmayer in three sets before falling to Misaki Doi in the second round. Karolina Pliskova initiated her hardcourt season at the Rogers Cup, reaching the second round. She then withdrew from the Olympics. Karolina Pliskova claimed her first WTA Premier tournament title at the Western & Southern Open, defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the final, but at the US Open, the German player avenged her loss by defeating her Czech opponent in three sets in the final. Karolina Pliskova qualified for the 2016 WTA Finals but did not progress to the knockout stage.
In 2017, Karolina Pliskova commenced her season by competing in Brisbane, where she secured her seventh WTA title. During the Australian Open, she advanced to the quarterfinals. She also reached the semi-finals at the Indian Wells Open. Pliskova began the clay-court season in Stuttgart, triumphing over CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets, but subsequently fell in the quarterfinals to the eventual champion, Laura Siegemund. Following this, she was eliminated in the first round of her home tournament in Prague by Camila Giorgi. Nonetheless, she achieved her first quarterfinal appearance in Rome. At the 2017 French Open, she triumphed over Zheng Saisai, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Carina Witthoft, before narrowly winning a fourth-round match against Veronica Cepede Royg. She then overcame Caroline Garcia, setting up a semifinal clash with Simona Halep, which she lost in three sets. This defeat hindered her from attaining the world No. 1 ranking at the end of the tournament.
For the grass-court season in 2017, Karolina Pliskova participated in the Eastbourne International as the third seed at the end of June, where she emerged victorious after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final in straight sets. At Wimbledon, she was once again considered one of the favorites prior to the tournament following her success at Eastbourne, but she faced an unexpected exit in the second round. However, on July 17, after Simona Halep was eliminated in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Pliskova ascended to the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in her career. She became the sixth player to achieve the No. 1 position without having won a major title and the first female player from the Czech Republic to do so. Pliskova continued to deliver strong performances during the US summer swing, reaching the quarterfinals and semifinals at the Canadian Open and the Western & Southern Open, respectively. She then competed in the US Open, where she was the top seed for the first time in a major, but was defeated by CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets during the quarterfinals.
During the 2017 Pan Pacific Open, she triumphed over Magda Linette but was subsequently defeated by Angelique Kerber. At the Wuhan Open, Karolina Pliskova advanced to the quarterfinals, whereas at the China Open, she was eliminated in the third round by Sorana Cîrstea. In the WTA Finals, Karolina Pliskova secured a victory against Venus Williams in straight sets, and later faced Garbine Muguruza, whom she also overcame in straight sets. These wins guaranteed her a place in the semifinals of the WTA Finals for the first time. However, she was defeated by Wozniacki in straight sets.
Karolina Pliskova commenced her 2019 season at the Brisbane International, where she was seeded fifth. She triumphed over Yulia Putintseva, Marie Bouzkova, Ajla Tomljanovic, Donna Vekic, and Lesia Tsurenko to secure the title. At the 2019 Australian Open, Karolina Pliskova was seeded seventh. She advanced to the semifinal, where she lost the following day to fourth seed Naomi Osaka in a match that went to three sets. She successfully maintained her momentum throughout the early hardcourt season, reaching the quarterfinals in both Dubai and Indian Wells. Subsequently, she achieved her first career Premier Mandatory final at the Miami Open, but was defeated by Ash Barty in straight sets.
Karolina Pliskova experienced a disappointing beginning to the 2019 clay-court season, suffering a loss to former world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, in her opening match in Stuttgart, and to Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Kozlova in the second round in Madrid. Nevertheless, she bounced back to claim the most significant clay-court title of her career, as well as her second Premier-5 title, at the Italian Open. Following her victory, Karolina Pliskova ascended back to No. 2 in the WTA rankings. At the French Open, she was seeded second and had the chance to overtake the world No. 1 ranking from Osaka if she reached the final. However, despite being considered a strong favorite, she faced an upset in the third round against the 31st seed, Petra Martic.
In June at the 2019 Birmingham Classic, Karolina Pliskova and her sister Kristyna made history as the first identical twins in WTA history to compete against each other in a main-draw match. Karolina was defeated by her sister, who was ranked 112th. Prior to Wimbledon, Karolina Pliskova’s final grass-court warmup tournament took place at the Eastbourne International, where she won against Margarita Gasparyan, Elise Mertens, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Kiki Bertens, and Angelique Kerber, all in straight sets, thereby securing her 14th career title and her second at Eastbourne. She reached the last 16 at Wimbledon, but was upset by the unseeded Karolina Muchova.
In 2020, Karolina Pliskova defended her title at the Brisbane International, setting a record for the most titles in the tournament. At the Australian Open, she triumphed over Kristina Mladenovic and Laura Siegemund, but was defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. Karolina Pliskova continued her campaign by reaching the quarter-finals in Dubai, although her season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic. Her first tournament after the suspension was the Western & Southern Open, where, as the top seed, she was eliminated by Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. At the US Open, she won against Anhelina Kalinina, but lost to Caroline Garcia in the second round. Karolina Pliskova advanced to the final in Rome, where she was the defending champion, defeating Barbora Strycova, Anna Blinkova, Elise Mertens, and Markéta Vondroušová, before retiring in the final against Simona Halep. At the French Open, she was defeated by former champion Jeļena Ostapenko in the second round. Her last event of the year took place at her home tournament in Ostrava, where, after receiving a bye in the second round, she lost to Veronika Kudermetova for the second time that year. Karolina Pliskova concluded the year ranked No. 6 in the world.
Karolina Pliskova commenced the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi, where she was eliminated in the second round. At the Australian Open, her disappointing performance continued as she was defeated in the third round. However, at the Italian Open, Karolina Pliskova managed to save match points against Jeļena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals, ultimately advancing to her third consecutive Italian Open final. Unfortunately, she lost to the reigning French Open champion, Iga Swiatek, in the final. During the 2021 French Open, Karolina Pliskova teamed up with her twin sister Kristyna, achieving a significant milestone by reaching the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam in doubles for the first time in their joint careers. In singles, however, her performance was less favorable, as she faced an upset against Sloane Stephens in the second round.
Karolina Pliskova’s difficulties persisted into the 2021 grass season. She entered the Eastbourne International tournament as the defending champion but was eliminated in the first round. Consequently, she fell out of the top 10 in the WTA rankings for the first time since August 2016. Nevertheless, Karolina Pliskova’s situation improved at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, where she reached her first Wimbledon final and her second Grand Slam final since the 2016 US Open. Although she was ultimately defeated by Ashleigh Barty in the final, finishing as the runner-up allowed her to return to the top 10.
In late July 2021, Karolina Pliskova made her debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, entering the singles tournament as the fifth seed. She advanced to the third round but was defeated by Camila Giorgi. Subsequently, Karolina Pliskova reached her seventh WTA 1000 final at the Canadian Open, where she faced Camila Giorgi again, marking their third encounter of the year, and unfortunately lost once more in straight sets. By reaching this final, she made a return to the top 5 of the WTA singles rankings. Additionally, Karolina Pliskova reached the semi-finals at the Cincinnati Open and the quarter-finals at the US Open. However, at Indian Wells, she suffered an upset against lucky loser Beatriz Haddad Maia in the third round. Karolina Pliskova qualified for the WTA Finals for the fifth consecutive time. Despite achieving a 2–1 record, she finished third in her group due to the tiebreaker rule that takes into account the ratio of sets won to lost, which ultimately led to her failure to qualify for the semifinals.
In 2022, Karolina Pliskova had to withdraw from all events during the Australian swing due to a hand injury sustained while training. She lost her initial two matches of the season at Indian Wells and Miami, but managed to secure her first victory at Charleston against Katarina Zavatska, only to be defeated in the second round by Ekaterina Alexandrova. In Berlin, she triumphed over Kaia Kanepi and Bianca Andreescu, but was eliminated by Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals. Subsequently, she faced another defeat against Katie Boulter in the second round at Eastbourne. At Wimbledon, she again lost to Boulter in the second round.
Karolina Pliskova commenced the 2022 North American hardcourt swing in San Jose. She finally overcame Boulter in the first round, but was eliminated by Amanda Anisimova in the second round. However, she regained her form in Toronto, reaching the semifinals where she lost to Haddad Maia in straight sets. This was followed by an exit in the second round against Elise Mertens in Cincinnati. Seeded 22nd at the US Open, she advanced to the fourth round, defeating Magda Linette, Marie Bouzkova, and Belinda Bencic. In Tokyo, she was defeated in the second round by Petra Martic in straight sets. She ended the year ranked No. 32, marking her lowest year-end ranking since 2013.
In 2023, Karolina Pliskova advanced to her fourth quarterfinal at the Australian Open. However, at the French Open, where she was seeded 16th, she was eliminated in the first round by Sloane Stephens. Additionally, Karolina Pliskova was also ousted in the first round of Wimbledon by qualifier and major debutante Natalija Stevanovic. She concluded the year with a ranking of No. 37, marking her lowest year-end position in a decade.
In 2024, Karolina Pliskova commenced her season at the Brisbane International, where she triumphed over Naomi Osaka in the second round after a three-set match, but subsequently lost to Jeļena Ostapenko in the third round, also in a three-set match. She then took part in the Adelaide International, where she was eliminated by Katerina Siniakova in the first round in straight sets. At the Australian Open, she faced defeat against third seed Elena Rybakina in the first round, again in straight sets.
In February, while still competing on hard courts in Europe, Karolina Pliskova entered the Transylvania Open, where she secured the title, marking her first victory in four years, defeating local player Ana Bogdan without dropping a single set throughout the tournament. The following week at the Qatar Ladies Open, she advanced to her first quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 event since the 2022 Canadian Open, achieving a win over compatriot Linda Noskova. Consequently, she made her return to the top 50 in the rankings. Next, she once again defeated Naomi Osaka to reach the semifinals, this time in straight sets. As a result, prior to the commencement of the Dubai Championships, she climbed back into the top 40, ranking No. 36 on 19 February 2024.
After a strong start to the season, she received a wildcard for the Indian Wells Open, but was eliminated in the first round by Anna Blinkova. Competing unseeded at the US Open, she achieved her first major victory of the season.
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