Former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova is back and ready to defend her Brisbane International crown with a new coach in her arsenal.
The Czech hopes the addition of Tomas Krupa to her team, which will not see Australian Rennae Stubbs stay on as an advisor, will be the extra ingredient needed to claim her maiden grand slam singles title.
In a year which saw five players take the top spot, the 25-year-old won three titles – Brisbane, Doha, Eastbourne – and made the semifinals of five others, but the hunt for that elusive grand slam title endures.
Defending her Brisbane crown is the first charge for Krupa, who was plucked from her compatriot, Barbora Strýcová.
He was the only feasible coach that was also Czech, Pliskova explained.
“So that’s why I just went for it even though he was still, at that time, coach of Barbora,” Pliskova said. “It’s always a little bit more difficult to search in the world for a coach.”
The No.2 seed arrived in Brisbane with her voice hoarse from a chest complaint but insists she feels fit and ready to begin her title defence.
Afforded the luxury of a first-round bye, Pliskova faces 18-year-old American CiCi Bellis on Wednesday night for a place in the quarterfinals against either Lesia Tsurenko or Kaia Kanepi.
With the goal of reaching No.1 already ticked off, Pliskova can focus her energy on a slam breakthrough. Having already featured in the 2016 US Open final, where she fell in a tight three-setter to Angelique Kerber, there is a sense she is not far off.
In a bid to win her first major, Pliskova intends to play a similar schedule to last year.
“I was not playing that many tournaments, but it was still enough to get to the top,” she said. “It depends on my body – how it feels during this year – but I think the schedule is pretty good.”