Eastbourne triumph will count for nothing at Wimbledon, says Pliskova

World number three Karolina Pliskova has been touted as the joint favourite, along with Ashleigh Barty, to win Wimbledon after landing her third title of the year.

Published : Jun 29, 2019 23:52 IST

Karolina Pliskova does not think any rivals will be concerned over her imperious form in Eastbourne when she goes in search of a first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.

The world number three heads to the All England Club as joint favourite with Ashleigh Barty after being crowned Nature Valley International champion with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Angelique Kerber.

Pliskova lost only seven points on serve in the second set against the reigning Wimbledon champion on Saturday and did not drop a set all week, making a big statement ahead of the grass-court major.

The Czech has won three titles this year - the same tally as world number one Barty - but does not believe her latest triumph will count for anything in SW19 over the next fortnight.

"Of course, it's going to be new start, new beginning. Nobody's gonna really think about this [at Wimbledon]. Maybe me," Pliskova said with a laugh.

"I just want to totally forget about what was here. Just take maybe only the positives but not to be thinking that everything is going to go that easy as this week, because I never had a week like this, that I didn't lose that many games. I felt like everything went quite smooth.

"Maybe the second set today was the toughest, but I felt everything just went the way it should, which for sure is not going to be like this in Wimbledon," she said.

Kerber saluted Pliskova after the three-time major champion was outplayed in the final. "I think she played a perfect match. She really played the whole week very well. For me, I was trying to find my game, but it just started in the second set because she really played well. She served good. She didn't give me the chance to find my rhythm," Kerber said.

"At the end I was still trying, especially at the end of the match, to break her back and stay in the match. But, she played well. The chance that I had, I couldn't take it.

"I will try to take the positive things from the whole week, from the last two weeks before going to Wimbledon now. I take the positive, how many good matches I had here. Of course today it was not the result that I wished, but I played against a good opponent."