Karolina Pliskova capped her season with a marathon showing at the Fed Cup final in Strasbourg. She won two of three matches in two days to help the Czech Republic defeat France.
The 24-year-old started the tie with a 6-3, 4-6, 16-14 win over Kristina Mladenovic in a match that lasted three hours and 48 minutes. The following day she fell to Caroline Garcia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Then, in the deciding doubles match, she and Barbora Strycova beat Garcia and Mladenovic, 7-5, 7-5, to clinch the title.
"It's definitely one of the best trophies," she told the Fed Cup website.
It was the second straight year that Pliskova and Strycova won the deciding doubles match to clinch the Fed Cup title for the Czech Republic, which has won the team competition five of the past six years. Pliskova won three matches in the first-round tie against Romania in February, and two matches in the semifinals against Switzerland.
Though she spent more than seven hours on court during the final, she didn’t feel too tired after the momentous victory.
"I have holidays now," she said. "I left everything here and I'm really happy we won."
Garcia also played three matches in the tie. She lost her doubles match, but beat Petra Kvitova and Pliskova—both of whom are ranked higher than her—in singles play.
Pliskova is at a career-high No. 6 ranking.