The 21st century
Czech Republic · born Louny, 1992 · right-handed · former world No. 1, Wimbledon finalist in 2021 and twice Eastbourne champion
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No. 1
World ranking, first reached on 17 July 2017
17
WTA singles titles
3
Grass singles titles: Nottingham 2016, Eastbourne 2017 and 2019
2021
Wimbledon final, lost to Ashleigh Barty in three sets
530
Aces in 2016, a WTA single-season record
Karolína Plíšková was born in Louny in 1992, two minutes after her identical twin, Kristýna, who also became a tour player. She is 1.86m tall and built her game on the serve: she led the WTA in aces in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019, and her 530 in 2016 set a single-season record. She won her first WTA title at Kuala Lumpur in 2013.
She reached the US Open final in 2016, losing to Angelique Kerber, and in the same year won the deciding singles of the Fed Cup final against Kristina Mladenovic 14-12 in the third set. She became world No. 1 on 17 July 2017 and reached a second major final at Wimbledon in 2021. A left foot injury forced her to retire three points into a match at the 2024 US Open and kept her off the tour until the 2026 Australian Open, where she reached the third round. As of November 2026 she is still playing, with 17 singles and five doubles titles.
| Nottingham 2016 | First grass title: beat Alison Riske 7-6 (10-8), 7-5, saving seven set points, six of them in the first set. Her grass record before that week was 8-8 |
|---|---|
| Eastbourne | 2016: lost the final to Dominika Cibulková 7-5, 6-3. 2017: beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4, weeks before she became No. 1. 2019: beat Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 for her 14th career title |
| Birmingham | 2015: lost the singles final to Angelique Kerber 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). 2016: won the doubles with Barbora Strýcová, beating Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) |
| Wimbledon 2021 | Reached the final without dropping a set, then beat second seed Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-final. Lost the final to Ashleigh Barty 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 |
| Eastbourne | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Women's singles | |
| 2019 | Women's singles | |
| Birmingham | ||
| 2016 | Women's doubles | with Barbora Strýcová |
| Nottingham | ||
| 2016 | Women's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. † single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
The person behind the player.
Nottingham, June 2016
In her first grass final win she saved six set points in the opening set and another in the second against Alison Riske, winning 7-6 (10-8), 7-5. "It was not an easy match, she also deserved to win and it was down to a few points," she said. Riske called it "a brutal match".
Source: Tennis NowBirmingham, June 2019
In the first WTA main-draw match between twins, Kristýna, a qualifier, beat Karolína, the world No. 3 and third seed, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7). Kristýna hit 24 aces to her sister's nine. Before the match she said: "It's very strange to play her. It's family, so you don't want her...but still I want to win as well."
Source: WTAWimbledon, July 2021
Against Aryna Sabalenka she had eight break points in the first set, converted none and lost it on a double fault. She did not face another break point and won 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. "After losing the first set, I thought it was going to be super tough to win this match," she said.
Source: WTAOff court
Her WTA biography lists freshwater fishing among her interests, along with Czech pop music, and records that she supports a foundation helping children with cancer in the Czech Republic. She plays for the Sparta Praha club.
Source: WTAFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
Join freePage updated 4 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
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