Karolina Pliskova is still changing towels more often than coaches. However, the number of her coaches in the last two years is pretty high.
Four coaches in three years
Pliskova, 26 years old Czech, made first major break-through in September 2016, when she reached US Open final. She lost with Angelique Kerber in that final, but one thing was sure. It was just a question of time when Karolina Pliskova reaches number one position in WTA ranking and eventually win some Grand Slam. She reached the first milestone – no.1 position in June 2017, already with a new coach.
She split with Jiri Vanek in November 2016 and replaced him with David Kotyza. You probably remember the well-known NBA-like one for one trade of coaches between her and Petra Kvitova. David Kotyza was fired 10 months later in September 2017. She shortly cooperated with Australian Rennae Stubbs during Masters 2017, where she reached semifinals. In November 2017 Pliskova hired Tomas Krupa (former coach of Tomas Berdych and Barbara Strycova). He kept his job just for nine months. We are in the middle of August 2018 and Pliskova is coming back to Rennae Stubbs.
That makes 4 coaches in three years. Jiri Vanek worked with Pliskova for 2 years, David Kotyza 10 months, Tomas Krupa 9 months.
Tennis Column is irregular and biased opinion column written by Tennis Pro Guru about everything tennis related.
Can Rennae Stubbs hold on longer?
Karolina Pliskova has a big potential which was not fulfilled yet. It does not look like a coaching problem. She was able to win at least one big tournament under the lead of every above-mentioned coach. So what does she definitely miss? Consistency.
Here is another proof. The magic of new coach Stubbs lasts exactly for one match. She was able to beat Agnieszka Radwanska in Cincinnati in her first match under Stubbs. And believe or not it was her first ever win (and won set) against Radwanska. Their head-to-head stats were 7-0 for Radwanska (with Pliskova not winning a single set till August 14, 2018) before the match. It was a start everybody wished for.
However, new hope lasts just until today. Loss with Sabalenka (6-2 3-6 5-7) is another damage to Pliskova self-confidence. I know she missed two match points, but still, top 10 player should know how to win matches like this. You can hardly blame your coach for losses like this.
I do not dare to say, that Pliskova is a falling star. I really think she still has a pretty good chance to win a Grand Slam title in near future (maybe in two weeks in New York – even when our readers are not seeing that). She just needs to change her mind instead of changing her coaches.
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