Karolina Pliskova is the perfectionist to end all other perfectionists, so even when she laid down a statement 6-3 6-3 victory in a delicate second round match against Victoria Azarenka, breaking her 2nd round curse at Wimbledon in the process, she was uninterested in patting herself on the back.

“Well, it's tough,” she chuckled, when tasked with rating her performance that afternoon. “I still think it was not completely perfect, but it was close to, let's say, 7 or 8.”

Pliskova pinpointed her serve as the area with room for improvement, explaining that she believed her greatest weapon could have contributed more aces and a higher percentage to the contest. Yet despite her low ace count, it was her serving that kept Azarenka completely at bay.

The Czech put her foot down from early. At 2-1* 15-15, Azarenka curved a 92-miles per hour first serve wide, but not wide enough, to Pliskova’s forehand. The Czech snapped the ball down the line, the ball curving with sidespin. The Wimbledon crowd gasped. Azarenka snapped, and two errors later Pliskova secured her first break.

As soon as Pliskova attained the break, her serve took over. She used her wide serves well, pinpointing Azarenka’s backhand return on the ad-side, which was uncharacteristically frail, and she faced little friction. She faced zero break points throughout. She served 74%. The only way her first serve percentage would be considerably better is if it was literally perfect.

The closest Pliskova came to losing her serve came after the rare sight of Azarenka on the front foot, dictating and forcing the seventh seed to move. Azarenka finished the points off and screamed into her fists, the score *4-2 15-30. Pliskova dug herself out with three fleeting points characteristic on the grass: one such wide serve to the Azarenka backhand, a big serve that afforded her an easy smash-winner.

The word “imposing” makes for particularly easy use after such a performance, particularly because of all the times in 2018 where Pliskova has failed to make the cut. Much of 2018 has showcased the worst of the Czech; her inability to put her foot down in a big match and take control, her timidity in the tightest moments and her seeming lack of a killer instinct. Her nadir came at Roland Garros when she sidled up to Chatrier for a meeting with Maria Sharapova, a chance to insert herself in a big match. She left with her tail between her legs, only three games on her side of the court.

On Centre Court, Pliskova redeemed herself but the grass courts remain a mystery for her. This match was a prime demonstration of what they can do for her: although she refrained hardly taking risks on her serves and hit few aces, her service games were fortified by the surface and Azarenka failed to return effectively even as she read the Czech well, and her first shot behind the serve was always high class.

One thing I like about Pliskova, a quality that is underrated, was showcased clearly on the earlier point at 4-2 15-15, as the 26-year-old was pushed onto her defense, Pliskova dug out two brilliant defensive slice forehands in a row that landed deep, pushed Azarenka far back, and both times very nearly flipped the point. Although Pliskova is slow and clumsy in defense, her hand-skills are immaculate and allow her to negate much of her issues with the low bounce. When she backs herself.

While Pliskova was strong, yet another early loss is a source of continued frustration for Victoria Azarenka. Since finally gaining her emancipation from the legal problems that kept her sequestered in California and unable to resume her career, the encouraging results on her favored hardcourts have failed to translate to the European natural surfaces of clay and grass. After roaring, unleashed, to the semifinals of Miami, Azarenka leaves Europe with only three wins in five tournaments.

Azarenka’s entire game is primarily based upon her positioning and her ability to command the space around the baseline, so beyond her uncharacteristically poor returning and the errors she offered under pressure, it was particularly striking to see her struggling so much with her footwork, seemingly incapable of putting herself in the right position around the ball. The former number one’s theory was even more interesting - she suggested that she is so much fitter than she has been in the past, and for that reason, she is reaching the ball early.

“I think physically I'm very fit right now,” she said. “Probably better than I have ever been before. But to be able to connect that with my tennis, it's been challenging and a little bit frustrating in a way, because, you know, sometimes when you're unfit or something, you're late to the ball or you're not making up steps or whatever. And for me, it's the opposite and too early, I'm way too early to the ball, and then I have so much time that I'm thinking too much sometimes.”

She continued. “And that connection needs to happen at some point. In practice, I'm able to manage it better, but in matches, it has to happen. But I think there is a progress from match to match, especially comparing my previous matches in Mallorca there is definitely a step forward, but it's not a finish line, for sure.”

As Pliskova stringently practices her perfectionism, even more notable was the maturity and calm with which Azarenka has dealt with setbacks. It would be easy to pinpoint the presence of her son as the basis of any changed perspective, and it surely has something to do with this, but there is more. It is also just a general maturity from a player who has slowly transitioned from one of the younger generations to one of the elders, and someone with too much self-belief, and too little insecurity at this point, to deeply question if she’ll get back to where she needs to be.