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The powerful Karolina Pliskova will look to continue her march through the Australian Open when she takes on the fatigued and injured world No.1 Simona Halep. Join The Roar for live scores from around 3pm (AEDT).
Halep has had a rough run through the Australian Open. She appeared to injure her ankle quite seriously during a first-round match against Aussie Destanee Aiava.
While she has been able to fight that off and continue through the tournament, the world No.1 has been nowhere near her best and the extra time spent on court might come back to bite her here against a powerful player like Pliskova.
If Halep is going to win, defence will need to be the order of the day from the baseline, with good court coverage paramount to her chances. Doing that on a dodgy ankle will be hard enough, but she has spent a stack of time on court as well.
That was headlined by a four-hour, 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 struggle against Lauren Davis in the third round. There is almost no doubt that match will take it out of her at the back end of the tournament, but she has been dominant elsewhere.
Straight sets wins against Aiava, Eugenie Bouchard and Naomi Osaka have allowed her to romp through the rest of the tournament, but Pliskova will be her toughest opponent by quite a distance so far.
The World No.6 has had an easy run through the first grand slam of the year, dropping just a single set.
The way she has dealt with Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova in the last two rounds has been particularly impressive and after starting her season with a semi-final appearance at the Brisbane International, it’s clear she is in brilliant form.
If Pliskova can make a fast start against Halep and get her on the back foot, she could well run away with this match as she has a tendency to do once momentum is going her way.
The pair have, however, played on six previous occasions with Halep leading the ledger 5-1. The winner will take on either Madison Keys or Angelique Kerber in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Prediction
This is set to be an intriguing match, but with possibly fitness issues and the amount of time Halep has already spent on court, the world No.1 will be sent packing.
Pliskova in three sets.
Don’t forget to join The Roar for live scores from around 3pm (AEDT) or at the completion of Hyeon Chung versus Tennys Sandgren and you can weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.