Pliskova twins, Karolina and Kristyna, newest sister act to hit Wimbledon
Blonde siblings from Czech Republic, who each have a junior singles title, arrive with high hopes, but only Karolina makes it to next round
Kristyna has blond hair, a Maori-style tattoo, and likes Paulo Coelho novels. Karolina is more blonde, has two Maori-style tattoos and prefers Nicholas Sparks. A 1.83-metre left-hander, Kristyna won the junior singles title in England; Karolina, a 1.85-metre right-hander, claimed the same prize at the Australian Open.
Kristyna is two minutes older, but Karolina's name pops up first in a Google search of their surname. Karolina has a higher ranking, but Kristyna won their most recent match. They stay in the same hotel room on the road, often sharing a bed when necessary, but please, try not to mix them up.
The Pliskova sisters are 21-year-old identical twins from the Czech Republic, who were in the same section of the draw this week, a fortnight after they faced each other for the first time on the WTA tour at Eastbourne.
When asked to cite examples of how she is different from her twin, Kristyna searched for an answer, but stalled for time.
"Differences?" she repeated, and then after a long pause concluded: "I don't really know. We are a lot alike."
But Karolina, who said her sister called her the boss for no good reason, batted the question aside as if she had fielded it 1,000 times, which she probably has.
"There are a lot of differences," she said. "The tattoos, the hair. I'm a little taller, she's lefty and I'm righty. On the court, it's easy to tell us apart. Off the court, well, you have to figure it out."
