The player ranked outside the top 1000 who is yet to drop a set at the Australian Open

The Australian Open has thrown up several surprises as the first Grand Slam of the year hurtles towards its second week.

Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jiri Lehecka, and Flavio Cobolli all fell at the first hurdle in the men’s draw as several seeds dropped out in the first round.

On the women’s draw, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Emma Navarro, and Leylah Fernandez lost at the same stage as the Grand Slam started in an unpredictable way.

Karolína Plíšková, however, has been one of the stories of the Australian Open as she has raced to the third round while sitting outside the top 1000 in the rankings.

Karolina Pliskova’s run to the Australian Open third round

Pliskova has entered the Australian Open on a protected ranking, following a jump down the WTA Tour after several injuries.

The star was first drawn against former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, who returned to Grand Slam action as a qualifier.

Pliskova defeated Stephens in straight sets to set up a second-round match with rising Indonesian star Janice Tjen.

She came through that match in straight sets too, winning 6-4, 6-4, to set up a match with last year’s winner Madison Keys.

Pliskova has already climbed 649 places in the rankings following her exploits at the first Grand Slam of the year.

Karolina Pliskova heads into Madison Keys test with a good omen

Pliskova will face her toughest test yet against Keys in the second round, but there’s a reason to be confident for the star.

Pliskova has only ever met Keys once on the WTA Tour and she picked up a win against the 2025 Australian Open champion.

Even more intriguing for Pliskova is that their only meeting came during one of the happiest moments for the Czech star.

Pliskova defeated Keys in the Brisbane International final in 2020 to lift the seventh WTA Tour title of her career.