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Match details
Fixture: (4) Karolina Pliskova vs Catherine McNally
Date: 31 August 2021
Tournament: US Open 2021
Round: First round (Round of 128)
Venue: New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt
Prize money: $40,560,000
Match timing: 11 am local time, 3 pm GMT, 8.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - BBC TV & Radio | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Karolina Pliskova vs Catherine McNally preview
Karolina Pliskova will open her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title when she locks horns with Catherine McNally in the first round of the US Open 2021 on Tuesday.
After struggling for consistency in the first few months of the year, Pliskova seems to have turned over a new leaf since Wimbledon. The Czech reached the final of the grasscourt Major for the first time in her career, where she went down fighting to World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.
Pliskova has carried the momentum into the North American hardcourt swing, and is entering the US Open as one of the most in-form players on tour. The World No. 4 reached the final in Montreal and backed that up with another solid run the very next week at Cincinnati, where she made the semis.
Brimming with confidence, the US Open 2016 runner-up will be hoping to make another big splash in New York.
Catherine McNally, meanwhile, is currently ranked 130th in singles and has a disappointing 17-17 win-loss record for the year. A quarterfinal appearance at the WTA 250 event in Guadalajara has been the 19-year-old's best performance of the season.
But McNally has made quite a mark for herself in the doubles arena. Ranked 34th, the American has won a couple of titles on the WTA tour as well as one on the ITF circuit this year. She even made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
Karolina Pliskova vs Catherine McNally head-to-head
Karolina Pliskova and Catherine McNally have never squared off on the tour before, so their head-to-head currently stands at a 0-0 deadlock.
Karolina Pliskova vs Catherine McNally prediction
Karolina Pliskova's game is based around her big serve; if she can get that shot working, it's half the job done.
That said, Pliskova does need to ensure that she keeps her unforced error count under control too. Against Jil Teichmann in the Cincinnati semifinals, the Czech kept spraying her groundstrokes long or wide, which was chiefly responsible for her loss.
If Pliskova can find enough accuracy on her attacking groundstrokes, she will put Catherine McNally under immense pressure. But the American does have the game to trouble Pliskova; her ability to mix things up is exactly the kind of thing that the Czech usually struggles to deal with.
It remains to be seen how long McNally can sustain that kind of game plan though. The teenager hasn't been consistent of late, and that would be welcome news for Pliskova.
Prediction: Karolina Pliskova to win in straight sets.
