Pliskova faces Riske in Nottingham final

Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic and unseeded Alison Riske of the United States both won two matches each to reach the Nottingham Open final on Saturday.

The quarter-finals were washed out on Friday, forcing the players to make up on Saturday in the Wimbledon warmup.

After overcoming trouble in both sets to beat Australia’s Ashleigh Barty7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (9-7) in the quarter-finals, Pliskova raced past Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-2 6-2 in 54 minutes.

Barty had two set points in the first set, was a break up in the second and then led 4-2 in the last tiebreaker but was unable to capitalise against her big-serving opponent who fired down 20 aces.

“I had enough chances in the first and second set – it’s disappointing not to convert. Karolina played the big points pretty well. I didn’t do a hell of a lot wrong until the second-set buster,” Barty said.

“It’s nice to know that straight off the bat that I can come in and compete with some of the best in the world which is really good.

“This week has just been a massive bonus for us. Being able to get so many matches against quality players has been good.”

The American will play for her second crown, in her second final of the year.

Riske, who won a minor tour event in Eastbourne last week, overcame Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3 6-3 in the morning, then returned to defeat Saisai Zheng of China 6-1 7-5 taking it on her third match point.

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