Karolina Pliskova wants to play her way, coach or no coach.
The Czech, who fell in the third round at Beijing, says there have been no big changes since being coached by her father, Radek Plisek.
After the US Open, Pliskova and her now-former coach, David Kotyza, parted ways. The world No. 4 says that she isn’t concentrating a lot on "technical, tactical things."
“We don't talk much about this. We just play some shots," she told press at Beijing. "Even when I was practicing two days before this tournament, I just went and hit without talking and without any special exercises. I just kind of felt like I needed this a little bit.”
In August, Pliskova became world No. 1 for the first time. However, she hasn’t won an event since June. While in Asia, she fell against Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals of Tokyo, then against Ash Barty in the quarterfinals in Wuhan, and finally against Sorana Cirstea in this tournament.
Pliskova finds that not much is different since the coaching change.
“Everything stays the same. I still have my fitness coach here,” she said. “We do all the same things as I did through the years. There are no changes with this. Obviously with the practices, if you have a match every day, then anyway you don't practice more than just the matches and warmup.
"Maybe sometimes when you don't have a match or you're just waiting for another tournament, I feel like maybe I can play less. It all depends by me. Anyway, I think even when there is a coach, you can still talk with the coach, but the decision is what you want. It's not about what the coach wants."
Pliskova added that after Beijing, “I don't want to see a racquet for four days.”