Caroline Garcia eased through the first set and saved two set points in the second set to eliminate top seed Karolina Pliskova in the second round of the 2020 US Open, 6-1 7-6(2).
The world No.50 Garcia raced through the first set, converting 100% of her break points, compared to Pliskova’s 0%, and hitting 15 winners to Pliskova’s only one, while both made nine unforced errors.
The Frenchwoman continued the momentum in the second set, going 2-0 up as Pliskova broke her new Babolat Pure Drive racquet in frustration. The 26-year-old Garcia confidently kept the lead until midway through the second set, when Pliskova won three consecutive games and earned two set points at 40-15 on her opponent’s serve (during that stretch the Czech won ten points in a row). Focused Garcia managed to get out of that hole by winning four straight points and leveling to 5-5. After two more tense games, Garcia confidently finished the job in the tiebreak.
This is Garcia’s sixth career win over a Top 5 player. The 2016 US Open runner-up Pliskova had reached the last 16 or better on her past four appearances in New York.
