Pliskova twins reunite for Dubai practice session

There was a long-awaited reunion for the Hologic WTA Tour's most famous twins at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Sunday as Karolina and Kristyna Pliskova shared a court on tour for the first time in more than a year.

Left-hander Kristyna peaked at career-high ranking of No.35 in 2017, but has been off the tour for nearly 18 months. Having last played in September of 2021, she announced her pregnancy that December, and welcomed son Adam with her now-husband, Slovak soccer player David Hancko, last May.

But she looked like she hasn't missed a beat in the twins' pre-tournament training session, which also featured Karolina Pliskova's coach, Sascha Bajin. 

The Pliskova twins have played nine times in their careers, and Krystina Pliskova holds a 5-4 head-to-head advantage over her former top-ranked twin. She won their last meeting, played four years ago on grass in Birmingham, and also holds the Hologic WTA Tour single-match record for aces with 31 in a defeat against Monica Puig at the 2016 Australian Open.

Last summer at the Western & Southern Open, Karolina Pliskova shed some light on what tour life's been like without her twin around.

"I play much worse when she's not around," she joked. "I don't really have like anybody who would replace her on the tour. Not that I would like need, but she was the best. I'm pushing for her to come back, so let's see."

While there's no official word yet on Kristyna Pliskova's possible comeback, Adam might already be showing off his coaching chops.

After a 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory against another Czech player, Marketa Vondrousova, on Monday, Karolina Pliskova shared a sweet candid snap with her nephew on Instagram, captioning it, "Pre-match talks."

A former finalist in Dubai, the unseeded Karolina Pliskova next faces a Round 2 match against No.6 seed Maria Sakkari.