The Czech fight in the semi-final

Karolína Plíšková, right-handed, 34 years old, WTA No. 87, is the in-form player of this tournament over the past two weeks. Champion here in 2016, finalist in 2024, she beat Kessler at Queen's, then McNally and Gibson in Nottingham with the same recipe: a dominant serve, a damaging first ball, and an ability to find breaks exactly when it matters. Her Match Efficiency Ratio of 4.796 on grass in 2026 shows she converts her chances almost five times better than Bouzkova (1.054). She converts 55.1% of her break points compared to 42.6% for the Czech. And against top 50 players over the last 52 weeks she stands at 9–3 (75%), a record that shows she raises her level against the best players. Bouzkova, WTA No. 27, sits right in that zone.

Marie Bouzková, right-handed, 27 years old, WTA No. 27, 4th seed, is also in great form on grass in 2026 with a 5–3 record (62.5%) over the last 52 weeks and three straight wins here, including a straightforward one over Maria, 7–5 6–0 yesterday. But the 2026 grass data tells a story that should worry her supporters: Tiebreaks Won % at 0.0%. Not a single tiebreak won on grass this year. Her Dominance Ratio of 1.581 is higher than Plíšková’s (1.043), she creates more break points (0.84 vs 0.66) and holds serve better (81.2% service games won vs 71.2%). But she doesn’t convert: 42.6% of break points converted compared to 55.1% for Plíšková. And her second serve is solid (55.2%) whereas Plíšková’s is fragile (44.6%), which could open a window for the Czech on return. The Return Pressure Points graph is brutal for Bouzkova: Plíšková is at 83% at 0–40 on return, 87% at 15–40, 73% at 0–30. She never lets go on return in the key moments.

The overall H2H: 2–1 Plíšková, their last meeting at the 2022 US Open on hard, 6–3 6–2. They’ve never played each other on grass. Plíšková dominated their two previous encounters with authority, but that was a while ago!