As many expected, there’s a Polish player through to the final four of the Australian Open, but it isn’t world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Unseeded Magda Linette’s fairytale run at Melbourne Park will continue after she made her way past world former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 7-5 on Rod Laver Arena. Linette has now beaten Pliskova twice in a row, with her previous win in the Billie Jean King Cup breaking a run of five straight losses to the dual Grand Slam finalist.
Following the victory, Linette seemed rather calm in the press room.
"I'm actually tired (smiling),” Linette said.
“Yeah, it's good. Again, I'm quite calm, surprisingly. That helped me last time, and I think that's also, like, a good way for the next one, especially that we are playing tomorrow.”
Linette took it right up to the big-hitting Pliskova, matching her on the stat line with three aces and 18 winners while crucially, only making 16 unforced errors compared to the 36 off of the Czech’s Babolat.
“When it was really tough on my serve, she was getting very aggressive,” Linette said.
“My first serve wasn't always there. I think I did really well not to panic and still stay in the rally and go for the shots when I had the chance. That was, I think, something I did the best.”
Bad errors were the theme for Pliskova with her seven double faults proving particularly costly. The two she hit in her final service game at 5-6 in the last set were the final nails in the coffin.
Linette is riding a wave of momentum that has seen her defeat [16] Anett Kontaveit, [19] Ekaterina Alexandrova and [4] Caroline Garcia before knocking off 30th seed Pliskova. In the process, she’s only dropped one set - to Kontaveit - and has been in the kind of form that will dare her to dream of lifting the title.
In saying that, it will be one of the more remarkable victories if she can go all the way, particularly when you consider that her only title on the WTA Tour came at a 250 event in Thailand back in 2020.
Yet, Linette feels as though she has been building towards something special, even if her results weren’t showing it.
“We knew that we are on a really good path. We saw that I was improving and playing so much better. But obviously when you still go in 125s and sometimes lose still there, it's still difficult,” Linette added.
“We knew we were doing really good. So I think this is huge reward for not only me but also for them, that they see that they are doing really amazing job and, you know, it was really worth it going through those tough moments. It kind of boosts all of us, because they also need the reward.”
Linette will face off with fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka for a spot in the finale, a player she is yet to defeat.
“My last encounter wasn't the best at the Olympics, so I think I have really big room there, because it obviously can't be any worse than the last one,” Linette said.
“I will just try what I'm doing this whole week.”
Linette will be confident, proving thus far that her H2H records are of little significance when gracing the bright blue hue of Melbourne Park.
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