“I lost a set, so I'm very disappointed,” Karolina Pliskova said with a smile following her three-set victory over Su-Wei Hsieh in the third round on Friday.
The Czech world No.3 was joking, but there is probably a hint of truth in her statement. After all, she had won her previous 14 consecutive sets entering her match-up with Hsieh and as she puts it, is “on a roll”.
With 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in her corner, Pliskova is enjoying a strong 2019 season, with three titles in the bag already, captured on three different surfaces.
She’s... mixing things up, coming to the net, and all that. She’s way more consistent when she plays, doing these things and keeping the focus
Looking to emulate her coach and triumph on the lawns of the All England Club, Pliskova carries an eight-match winning streak into her fourth round on Monday, where she faces fellow Czech Karolina Muchova.
You could already see glimpses of Martinez in Pliskova’s grass game. Against the unpredictable and magical Hsieh, she was slicing and volleying with great success, winning 24/28 of her net points.
“Well, it's not for sure my best game. I know I can hit couple of those always. Maybe I should try more to play this game,” Pliskova confessed when asked about her drop shots and volleys.
Martinez would probably like her to do so, but is already pleased to see her charge adopting a more attacking playing style these past few weeks.
“I think she’s playing really well obviously, coming from winning Eastbourne. She’s playing really aggressive, she’s moving well,” Martinez told wimbledon.com.
“You need to be very low and moving well and stuff like that. She’s doing that, mixing things up, coming to the net, and all that. She’s way more consistent when she plays, doing these things and keeping the focus.”
Focus would be the key for Pliskova to lift a maiden Grand Slam title, according to Martinez. Pliskova’s best performance at the majors so far came at the 2016 US Open, where she lost in the final to [Angelique Kerber}. The Czech ex-world No.1 has made two Grand Slam semi-finals since, at 2017 Roland-Garros and at the Australian Open earlier this year.
I think she has good chances and I’m sure she’s going to win a major
Martinez is confident Pliskova will solve her Grand Slam riddle soon, and revealed the team is accompanied by a sports psychologist this Fortnight at Wimbledon, to make sure the 27-year-old is in the perfect headspace.
“I think she has good chances and I’m sure she’s going to win a major. In a Grand Slam you need to stay focused and not let go for one second, 14 days very intense. We’re trying to work on that area,” explained Martinez.
“She has a psychologist here with her. They’ve been working together for years now. We’re trying to take care of the little things here and there. I think she can do it of course.”
Pliskova doesn’t typically travel with her psychologist, but he has been with her here in England since the end of last week’s Eastbourne tournament.
“This was part of the plan. We work a little bit together now. He’s from Czech Republic, so it’s difficult to communicate as easy, but we try to communicate and we did in Eastbourne,” the Spanish coach elaborated.
“I know the things he was working on and I was telling him a couple of things here or there. You need to work as a team in some areas and of course in other areas I’m not going to even go there because that’s her thing.”
Pliskova, who leads the women’s field at Wimbledon with 29 aces so far this event, had a complicated history with the Championships in the past. Before her fourth round run last year, she had lost in the first or second round in all six of her previous appearances at SW19.
With a new mentality and higher level of confidence on the surface, she is one of the main contenders for the title.
Martinez, who coached Garbiñe Muguruza to the Wimbledon crown in 2017, stressed the importance of the work Pliskova is doing with her psychologist, adding that it proved very beneficial for her when she was a player herself.
“I think it’s very positive and very necessary sometimes. Just to keep you straight and to give you some tools when things are not working or when things are working to keep the routines, the tools to do on court,” said Martinez.
“There are all kinds of psychologists, I had a sports psychologist in my career, it’s not that you’re going to travel with them, maybe sometimes he did come to some tournaments.
“But relaxation, visualization, all that kind of stuff I truly believe in. I think it’s difficult to cope with some of the pressures, travelling, how do I cope when I’m mentally tired, I think that could be handy too.”