Karolína Plíšková, the 2024 Transylvania Open champion, was defeated by Anastasia Zakharova in the first round of the 2026 edition, 4–6, 6–2, 6–2 for the world No. 104.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Karolína — a player much loved in Romania, especially in Cluj — said she wished she could have stayed longer in the tournament:
“Especially because I have such nice memories here and I felt like I could play well again on this court. But her game made things difficult. I’ve seen her play before, but not quite at this level. I think it was her day.”
Plíšková recently returned to the tour after a break of more than a year. She had a solid run at the Australian Open, reaching the third round — an important result considering the lack of match play — and feels she still needs more matches to reach the level she wants.
“I had a long break and haven’t played many tournaments since coming back. This year I played the Australian Open and this was only my second tournament of the season. So I think I still need time to play better and gain more confidence in my decisions on court. My level is okay, but I feel I need more matches. I hope I can stay healthy and build more match rhythm in the coming period. I wish I could have played more matches here because, as I said, I have very nice memories of Cluj. This tournament is among the best on the tour. It’s a WTA 250, but with the way it’s organized, it could easily be a 500 or even higher. People are doing a truly extraordinary job here.”
About her reunion in Cluj with Simona Halep, the Transylvania Open brand ambassador, Karolína added:
“We did a few interviews together, but we also spoke privately and I was really happy to see her, especially since we hadn’t met in a long time. Simona has always been one of the best — and one of the nicest girls — on the tour.”
Plíšková will next compete in Dubai and is not setting long-term goals for the season:
“I can’t make long-term plans right now, I prefer to take things step by step. I’m currently using my protected ranking, but the goal is to climb back up so I won’t need help to enter the big tournaments. For now, I’m just happy to be back and I’m taking it one step at a time.”
