STANFORD, CALIF. — It’s not as if the Czechs are strangers to success. Their tennis heritage is a rich one, crowded with names like Navratilova, Mandlikova, Sukova, Novotana, Vaidisova, et al. But next week, thanks to the rise of a tattooed and long-legged baseliner named Karolina Pliskova, the Central European nation will reach new heights. The Czech Republic will boast three women in the top 10 for the first time in WTA history.

Pliskova, 23, will join two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and French Open finalist Lucie Safarova when the updated rankings are released on Monday. She’ll be the eighth Czech woman to crack the top 10 since computer rankings were introduced in November 1975.  

“It was always my goal to be top 10, so I’ve finally achieved that,” said Pliskova, who downed American left-hander Varvara Lepchenko on Saturday 6-2 7-5 to advance to the Bank of the West Classic final, her fifth of 2015. “I was around 13, 12, 11 for a long time. But it doesn’t really mean anything because you still have to go on the court and play and give your best. The girls, they don’t really care if I’m 10 or 11. It’s just a feeling that I’m top 10 finally. Of course I’m happy for that, but on the court I’m trying not to think about it.”

Pliskova, whose twin sister, Kristyna, also plays on the pro tour, has quietly been on the verge of a breakthrough for the past two years. The WTA’s Most Improved Player of 2014 caught fire last fall with titles in Seoul and Linz, and thus far in 2015 has reached finals in Sydney, Dubai, Birmingham ,and Stanford, while claiming the fourth title of her young career in her birth city of Prague. Only Serena Williams has reached as many finals in 2015.

If you’ve seen Pliskova — the WTA’s leader in aces this year with 366 in 51 matches — step up and crack one from the baseline, you’re familiar with her most potent weapon:  her serve. But she’s no one-shot wonder. Far from it. As she showed in her one-hour, 17-minute dismantling of Lepchenko at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, a match in which she registered 20 winners and converted four of five break-point chances, she’s a pretty fluid mover for a 6-foot-1 player, shows some variety by mixing in the occasional drop shot, and at times can return with the best of ‘em. There’s a loping, athletic ease, too, to her on-court demeanor, a positive-vibe body language that speaks to the most valuable of intangibles:  confidence.

“It couldn’t be a better start to the hard-court season, especially in front of the US Open,” she said. “I think I’ve improved a lot mentally.  I’m still working on moving on the court. The serve is very solid now — I’m not losing that many games on my serve. I’m feeling confident. Even if I lose some tournaments in the first round, the next one is much better. But I’m not losing too many times in the first round.”

Who knows? If she keeps this up, she might find herself among the Road to Singapore’s elite eight when the final field is announced for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals. The woman who earlier this year sagely observed, “In women’s tennis, there is everything possible,” is quickly discovering just how true that is.