PARIS -- Some players are born for clay; others learn to love it. For Karolina Pliskova, the jury is still out.
Seeded No. 2 at the 2019 French Open and with increased expectations on her shoulders after winning the title in Rome earlier this month, the Czech lost 6-3, 6-3 to No. 31 seed Petra Martic of Croatia in the third round Friday.
Though she reached the semifinals in Paris two years ago, Pliskova has never professed to be a major threat on clay. And it seems her run two years ago is the exception that proves the rule. In seven other Paris appearances, she has never made it past the third round.
"[Martic] was serving well," said Pliskova, whose defeat also means that Naomi Osaka will remain world No. 1 after Roland Garros no matter what happens from here on. "She just sometimes went for her shots and then she was patient. I think on clay it's just too difficult always to just go for it."
And there's the crux of it.
Blessed with enormous, easy power, Pliskova has one of the best serves in the game, topping the WTA aces count in 2015, '16 and '17, a crown she lost to Julia Goerges of Germany in 2018. Pliskova's groundstrokes can strike fear into her opponents, and she is widely considered the best player not to have won a Grand Slam title. The closest she came was in 2016, when she led Angelique Kerber of Germany 3-1 in the third set of their US Open final before losing.
Having won the title in Brisbane at the start of this year, Pliskova reached the semifinals at the Australian Open (where she lost to Osaka) and won Rome for her biggest title on clay. But on Friday, against an experienced opponent who knows how to navigate a clay court, she was well-beaten.
"I think I just didn't play that well," Pliskova said. "Maybe I was a little bit, at some points, passive -- maybe not that fast. My serve wasn't really working. I don't think she did much wrong today, so I think she played clever. She was patient. I just did too many mistakes. I think she played well. For sure, I could do better.
"I think the court is pretty slow, so you just have to play some extra shots. She just has this kind of game which, you know, you don't feel good about, and I think she played well."
In reality, Friday's result was not the biggest surprise. Martic, who is 28 and was close to retiring from the sport when a back injury forced her out for 10 months in 2016, is a natural clay-court player, and her 14 wins on clay this year is the most on the WTA Tour.
And where Martic glided around the court, sliding with ease, Pliskova was often left floundering -- especially when forced wide, her feet seemingly stuck in the clay. On another overcast day at Roland Garros, Pliskova's power was dimmed, and at times she seemed close to boiling over with frustration.
Conchita Martinez, her coach and a former Wimbledon champion, looked glum at courtside. The only time Martinez got animated came when Pliskova briefly looked as if she might fight back, recovering from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 in the second set, with a break of serve.
But Martic broke back and then picked off the next three games, too, to claim a huge win, even if she downplayed it.
"I have had a few [big wins]," Martic said. "For sure it was one of the bigger ones. But I have bigger goals than that, and I hope I can just continue this way."
Martic admitted the clay was a leveler between the two. "I don't know if she likes to play me, doesn't seem that way so far," Martic said. "It's always difficult. She's No. 2 in the world ... but I think this surface also suits me a little bit better than it suits her, and I used it today."
After wondering during her injury hiatus three years ago whether she would ever play again at the top level, Martic is now into the fourth round of Roland Garros for the third time, having also made it that far in 2012 and 2017, and is set to rise to a career-high ranking of No. 27. In a match she is well capable of winning, she'll play No. 88-ranked Kaia Kanepi of Estonia for a place in the quarterfinals.
Pliskova, meanwhile, should be back in Paris for another crack next year. But her chances, it's clear, are better elsewhere.