Pliskova: 'I’ll finish the season without a coach'

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Former world number one Karolina Pliskova parted ways with coach David Kotyza in mid-September.

Kotyza previously coached tennis star Petra Kvitova, and had teamed up with her fellow Czech, Pliskova in December. The relationship resulted in three titles, in Brisbane, Doha, and Eastbourne, including deep runs at some big tournaments this season, but Pliskova decided a change was needed as she disagreed with Kotyza’s plan for her further development.

“I felt I needed a change after the US Open, and we have a little bit different vision on my game, so it’s gonna be good to change [the coach]. I think I’ll finish the season without a coach, maybe we’ll see if I find somebody for Singapore if I get there, but for now, I traveled several tournaments with my dad, so it’s a nice change.”

Karolina Pliskova was defeated by CoCo Vandeweghe in the 2017 US Open quarter-finals. /VCG Photo

On July 17, Pliskova reached the WTA world No 1 ranking for the first time in her career. She was the first female player representing the Czech Republic to achieve the feat.

The 25-year-old's eight-week run at the top ended following a US Open quarter-final loss to 20th-seeded American CoCo Vandeweghe. Though the result helped her in firing Kotyza, the 2016 US Open finalist says ranking is not the primary pursuit of her professional career.

“For me, the ranking is not that important, even if you are number four, still you can be pretty high-seeded in the tournament, so for me, it’s just important to play well, and the ranking is gonna come.”

Pliskova is among the few women who have ruled the rankings without winning a Grand Slam tournament before or after they reached the top. But the 25-year-old says she is simply focused on getting better each season.

Karolina Pliskova lost to Simona Halep of Romania in semi-finals of 2017 French Open. /VCG Photo

“The important thing for me is to improve from year to year. Compared to the year before, I improved a little bit as well, I have more titles and winning matches right now than last year with still several tournaments to go," she said.