Round 2: Karolina Pliskova vs. Jasmine Paolini
Louis Armstrong Stadium – Day Session – Second Match
- If No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini thought she could breathe easily after she came from a set down to escape former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in Round 1, she would've been wrong. On Thursday, she'll face 2016 Queens finalist, former Wimbledon finalist, and ex-world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova in the second day-session match inside Louis Armstrong Stradium.
- Paolini, now firmly entretched in the WTA's Top 5 after a season that should already all but garauntee her the tour's year-end most improved player honor, and Pliskova, a former world No. 1, are at two opposite ends of their tennis careers. The 28-year-old Italian has reached both the Roland Garros and Wimbledon singles finals this year, finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova, respectively, after never even reaching the second week of a Grand Slam tournament before 2024. A dual-discipline threat, she and Sara Errani also won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, were runners-up at Roland Garros, and figure to be title contenders here, too, as the No. 6 seeds.
- Pliskova, meanwhile, who spent eight weeks at the top of the WTA rankings in 2017, ended last year at No. 37, her lowest-year end ranking in 10 years. She dropped to No. 78 after failing to defend points from a 2023 Australian Open. Earlier this year, though, the Czech saw a resurgence, winning 11 straight matches in February—a run that included her 17th career WTA singles title in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
- Pliskova also had a tough match in Round 1 against Egypt's Mayar Sherif, which she eventually won 6-3, 0-6, 7-5. It was a milestone win for the 32-year-old Czech in 2024, as she lost in Round 1 at each of the other three Grand Slam events this year. Since reaching the final in 2016, Pliskova has reached New Yorksecond week five times in seven appearances, which includes four other quarterfinals. Her two first-week losses, though, have come in Round 2.
- Pliskova and Paolini have played once previously, but it was way back in 2021. Pliskova won that one 6-0, 6-2 at the Australian Open.
