WHAT HAPPENED: No. 4 seed and former US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova kicked off her 2021 US Open campaign with a routine win over 19-year-old American wild card Catherine McNally, 6-3, 6-4.
The 2016 US Open runner-up, Pliskova produced a big-hitting game on Tuesday that proved too much for the young American to handle. Her win comes on the heels of a summer hot streak that saw her reach the finals at Rome, Montreal, and Wimbledon, as well as a semifinal finish at Cincinnati last week, indicating the Czech is at the top of her game and poised to repeat another deep run at Flushing Meadows this year.
“I started really well and then lost focus at the end of the first set and gave away some easy mistakes,” Pliskova said of her performance. “Of course, she played better in the second. But my serve wasn't really there today, so I have to work on that. But I finished with two aces there at the end, so I’m happy with that.”
Armed with a heavy return game from the start, the 29-year-old Czech raced out to a dominating 5-1 first-set lead before being broken and later closing it out at 6-3. Though she had a slow start to set two, McNally played a consistent game to cut a 3-0 deficit to 3-3 and get herself back in the match by drawing errors from Pliskova. But the veteran Czech put an end to McNally’s spirited run and took another break to regain the lead, eventually closing out the match on two consecutive aces.
WHAT IT MEANS: Pliskova moves into Round 2 of the 2021 US Open, where she awaits the winner of the match between Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan and 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova. Against each player, she has a 3-0 record and has not dropped a set in their respective contests. Since her runner-up finish here five years ago, Pliskova has not made it past the quarterfinals.
In only her second career meeting with a Top 10 player, McNally walks away from the US Open knowing that she can hold her own against top players, having won 3 of 8 break point chances against one of the strongest servers in the women’s game.
MATCH POINT: This was the first career meeting between the two women, one that was a prime example of youth versus experience. Not only does Pliskova have 10 years over McNally, but she also has exactly 100 more Grand Slam main draw matches under her belt—Pliskova is 73-36, while McNally now stands at 4-5 in majors.
