Karolina Pliskova thinks Maria Sakkari definitely touched the ball with her racket in a controversial moment but refused to say that was to blame for her loss. Down 5-2 in the third set of her Indian Wells round-of-16 match, Pliskova insisted that one of her balls went out after it touched Sakkari’s racket.
But the chair umpire didn’t see and Sakkari insisted that the ball never touched her racket. Pliskova was adamant that the ball touched Sakkari’s racket but Sakkari strongly denied that was the case and the Greek was awarded the point.
Pliskova was able to win that eighth but it didn’t lead to a comeback as Sakkari won 6-4 5-7 6-3. Under Pliskova’s latest Instagram post, one fan commented: “Sakkari definitely touched the racket on that one point.” Pliskova responded: “Right.”
Lol why do players even bother interacting with me on Instagram I’m just trouble to the bone pic.twitter.com/IASs67DOuV — Jonah (@jonahtennis) March 16, 2023
Another fan jumped in and asked Pliskova if she was trying to prove she lost because of that point.
“Never said that, if you didn’t notice,” Pliskova responded.
Pliskova was aiming back-to-back wins against Sakkari
In February, Pliskova dismantled Sakkari 6-1 6-2 in Dubai. In their first tournament after Dubai, Pliskova and Sakkari met again.
This time, it was Sakkari who ended on the winning side. But before facing Pliskova, Sakkari said Dubai “was a horrible court for my game and very good for Pliskova.” However, Sakkari underlined beating Pliskova in Indian Wells would be tough definitely.
“Well, I think it’s going to be tough. Obviously we played in Dubai, which is a horrible court for my game, and very good for her. It’s going to be tough. If it’s warm, because the ball flies and the ball, you know, flies through the air actually very fast.
But, you know, from now on, like even in the first rounds like against Shelby, you cannot expect an easy match. Especially against someone like Pliskova, she’s serving big, and she likes, you know, to hit the ball hard, I have to for sure reduce my unforced errors. That won’t be accepted against her,” Sakkari said prior to facing Pliskova.
Source: Tennis World USA
