The Australian started slowly in the quarter-final of the WTA 500 tournament on Friday as Pliskova broke her serve twice in taking the first set, before Barty hit back with three breaks of her own to force a decider.
Barty was two points away from losing on five occasions as world number nine Pliskova served for the match at 5-4 in the final set.
But she broke the Czech's resolve eventually, sealing victory when Pliskova hit the ball long after a baseline rally.
The win was Barty's eighth consecutive victory over a top-10 opponent and she said in a media conference afterwards that facing top players in the world brings the best out of her.
"When you come up against top-10 opponents, you have to go to that level above to be able to compete. They force you to bring your best," Barty said.
"With a lot of the girls in the top 10, we've had plenty of matches that have gone either way, different experiences, so each time I love that challenge of testing myself against the best."
Barty will face Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals after she saved two match points to claim a 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova.
In the other half of the draw, Simona Halep breezed through to the semi-finals with a 6-1 6-4 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Halep clinically closed out the first set, and although Alexandrova showed more fight in the second, the world number three did not allow her a route back into the match.
Halep will face Aryna Sabalenka following the Belarusian's 7-5 4-6 6-1 win over Anett Kontaveit.
In the Istanbul Cup, top seed Elise Mertens secured her place in the semi-finals with a 6-4 6-4 win over Katerina Siniakova.
Mertens will face Veronika Kudermetova who fought back from a set down to clinch a 2-6 6-3 6-3 win over Ana Bogdan.
The other semi-final will see Sorana Cirstea play Marta Kostyuk. Cirstea progressed after Fiona Ferro, trailing 6-4, retired through injury while Kostyuk beat Ana Konjuh 7-5 4-6 6-3.
Barty overcame Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-0 6-3 to lift an 11th career title and her third of the season after successes at the Miami Open and the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne.
It proved to be another comeback triumph against a top-10 opponent for Barty, who saw off Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
Sabalenka was ready to seize upon another sluggish Barty start and forced three break points at 3-2 in the opener.
The Australian was able to hang on that time, but Sabalenka fashioned two more and a botched Barty drop shot meant it was fifth time lucky.
The rapid progress of set two suggested Barty had merely been warming up, snaffling her third break point at 1-0 and dispatching a magnificent forehand cross-court winner to surge 4-0 ahead.
A bagel felt inevitable from that point and, after a 20-minute second set, Sabalenka was sinking without a trace when she slipped 3-0 behind in the decider.
The fifth seed broke back before being undermined by an untimely double fault at 3-2 – one of 39 unforced errors – and Barty faced down three break points in the following game.
A superb display, featuring 26 winners and five break points converted from 12 opportunities, concluded when Barty wrapped things up on her second match point.
Berrettini, playing in his first tournament since injury, raced out the blocks to break Murray in just his second service game, before the Scot failed to capitalise on four break points in the following game.
A similar pattern continued for the remainder of the first set, with neither player able to capitalise on break-point opportunities before Berrettini claimed the 1-0 lead with a booming forehand down the line.
That was the first set that Murray had lost in the tournament and he responded by producing a gritty performance in the second.
Berrettini squandered three chances to break at 4-4 before a double fault in the tie-break handed Murray three set points, and the three-time grand slam champion duly obliged to level.
The Italian opened the decider with a break, with Murray requiring a medical timeout for a leg injury, and the world number 10 claimed victory after his opponent had required more treatment.
Berrettini added a second Stuttgart crown to his name, having lifted the title in 2019, while it was his third grass-court success.
The 26-year-old will look to carry that form into Wimbledon, which starts on June 27, while the injury will be of concern to Murray, who was denied his first title since 2019.
The grass-court swing got under way with four main-draw matches but little drama in Germany.
One-time Wimbledon finalist Cilic staved off the only two break points he faced against wildcard Rudolf Molleker and seized all five opportunities of his own.
A 7-5 6-3 win was enough to set up a second-round meeting with fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili, who beat Dustin Brown in the top half of the draw.
The defeated pair were the only home hopefuls in action, while number six seed Ugo Humbert and Lloyd Harris each also progressed.
The Romanian made short work of lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova in a 6-4 6-1 straight sets victory in Turkey to launch her defence of the title she won against Elise Mertens last year.
The Belgian – top seed once again in Istanbul – gets her campaign underway against Sweden's Rebecca Peterson on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, there were wins for seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Jil Teichmann, though Tereza Martincova is out after a surprise 6-4 7-5 loss to qualifier Anna Bondar.
World number 12 Raducanu meanwhile is also poised to get her latest tilt for silverware underway in Stuttgart in midweek, with the eighth seed facing qualifier Storm Sanders.
The title is up for grabs on the WTA Tour following Ash Barty's retirement, with her world number one successor Iga Swiatek a potential quarter-finalist for the Briton if she gets that far.
There will be no Coco Gauff in the mix however after the American made a first round exit in straight sets, losing to Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-2.
Seventh seed Ons Jabeur, meanwhile, fought back to beat Marketa Vondrousova 4-6 6-2 6-3, while qualifier Eva Lys overcame Viktorija Golubic 5-7 7-5 7-5 to set up a second round clash with Swiatek.
Forthcoming tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague will not take place as planned.
The latest cancellations follow those of the Indian Wells Open, Charleston Open and Miami Open in the United States, along with events in Bogota and Guadalajara.
The tour will make a decision on the status of its remaining European clay court tournaments later this week.
A WTA statement said: "Due to the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak, the WTA tournaments in Stuttgart, Istanbul and Prague will not be held as scheduled.
"We regret this is the case for all of our loyal fans, players, sponsors and all those who support women's professional tennis.
"At this point in time, the WTA Tour is now suspended until May 2. We will make a decision in the week ahead regarding the remaining WTA European clay court events and will continue to monitor this situation closely and its impact on the 2020 WTA Tour season."
De Minaur – the top seed for the ATP 250 tournament in the Netherlands – needed one hour and 46 minutes to wrap up a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 success over the world number 16, having thrown away a 4-0 first-set lead before holding his nerve in a tiebreak.
The second set was cagey as De Minaur did not give up a single break point and converted one of two he forced, some strong serving ensuring he held off his opponent.
He will face Korda in Sunday's final after the American ended Tallon Griekspoor's title defence at the semi-final stage earlier on Saturday, winning 6-2 6-4.
Meanwhile, Jack Draper will face Matteo Berrettini in the final of the BOSS Open in Stuttgart, having beaten Brandon Nakashima 6-3 6-3 in the semi-finals.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini came through an all-Italian clash with Lorenzo Musetti in just 67 minutes, winning 6-4 6-0.
Data Debrief: New high for De Minaur
De Minaur is into his 17th ATP Tour-level final, having an 8-8 record in his previous 16. It will be his third on grass, after beating Lorenzo Sonego in Eastbourne in 2021 and losing to Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's last year.
The victory also ensured he will rise to eighth in the world rankings – a new career-high position.
Draper had already ensured he will become Britain's top player in the ATP rankings by reaching the showpiece match in Germany with back-to-back wins over Americans Francis Tiafoe and Brandon Nakashima.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini took Sunday's opener in just 33 minutes, but Draper fought back in a near-hour-long second set as the momentum shifted.
Draper failed to convert two set points at 5-4 and the first of two in the tiebreak, but he never looked back after levelling things up.
A break in the seventh game was enough to take the decider as Draper triumphed 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, serving a huge ace – his 12th of the contest – on match point.
Data Debrief: Draper follows in Murray's footsteps
Draper will crack the world's top 30 after claiming his maiden title in his third ATP final, having previously lost to Adrian Mannarino at last year's Sofia Open and Jiri Lehecka at January's Adelaide Open.
He will also become his country's top male player at the age of 22 years and 269 days, making him the youngest British number one since Andy Murray in November 2009.
The 2021 US Open champion beat Linda Noskova 6-0 7-5 in Germany to set up a mouth-watering last-eight tie with world number one Iga Swiatek on Friday.
Raducanu is making her way back after a torrid 2023 but looked excellent in winning her two ties in the Billie Jean King Cup at the weekend and then followed that up by swatting home favourite Angelique Kerber aside in Wednesday’s first round.
She stepped it up again to dispose of the world number 31 to set up a repeat of the 2022 quarter-final with Swiatek.
Despite all her troubles since winning the US Open in 2021, Raducanu never doubted the good times would return.
“I am not too surprised because I have been working really hard on the training court and I knew it was just a matter of time,” she said in her on-court interview.
“This isn’t my best I still have a long way to go. I am just really happy the rewards are starting to come on the match court.
“You know how it is when you are training day in, day out you feel like the results aren’t going your way. It is never that far away, that is something I am learning.
“Going through everything I have been through gives you a different appreciation, there is nothing like playing in front of fans and playing good tennis.”
Her progress will face its toughest test when against the Polish world number one, who is a master of the clay court, but the Briton knows she is not under any pressure.
Raducanu, whose world ranking of 303 will shoot up, added: “We played here two years ago in the quarters, I have come a long way in two years, and she has achieved a lot, I have nothing to lose, I can swing and enjoy it.
“Hopefully recover in time. I’m good.”
Second seed Halep is hunting her first appearance in a Stuttgart final, and she looked in fine form as she took just 56 minutes to dismiss Vondrousova 6-1 6-3.
Vondrousova – the 2019 French Open runner up – had won both of her previous meetings with Halep, but on this occasion she was no match for the world number three, who has won every major European clay-court tournament other than Stuttgart.
"Starting the clay-court season makes me very happy and motivated, extra motivated actually," Halep said in a post-match news conference.
"I missed playing matches. I had a few weeks without an official match and it was kind of tough when I started the match, but my mind was strong enough just to give focus on what I have to play. So, I did it great and today it was a great match.
"I was a little bit nervous before the match because I played twice against her and she beat me every time.
"It is important for my mind, for my game, because the clay-court season is going to be very tough. Now this match gave me confidence that my level is high, and if I keep doing the same thing, I will be good."
Facing Halep in the quarter-finals will be Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated world number 12 Belinda Bencic, and joining them in the final eight is Elina Svitolina, who defeated Angelique Kerber 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Two-time Stuttgart champion Kerber and Svitolina had faced off 13 times before Thursday's contest, and the Ukrainian is now 9-5 up in that head-to-head tussle.
While Aryna Sabalenka also progressed, Karolina Pliskova teed up a clash with top seed Ash Barty by coming from behind to beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 6-3.
At the Istanbul Open, top seed Elise Mertens also needed three sets to forge a path into the last night.
Mertens had to show her mettle in a contest which lasted over two hours, but she eventually got the better of Viktorija Golubic 6-4 4-6 6-1.
Veronika Kudermetova also made the last eight, as did Ana Bogdan, who fended off Barbora Kreijcova, while Fiona Ferro defeated Vera Zvonareva.
World number three Halep had claimed straight-set wins over Ekaterina Alexandrova and Marketa Vondrousova en route to the semi-finals, but met her match in the form of Belarusian Sabalenka, who triumphed 6-3 6-2.
A nine-time singles champion, Sabalenka made it into a 14th career final without conceding a single break, as she managed to keep Romanian Halep at arm's length.
Standing between Sabalenka and a 10th singles title is world number one Barty who, on her 25th birthday, came from behind to defeat Elina Svitolina 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
Making her tournament debut in Stuttgart, Barty had overcome Laura Siegemund and Karolina Pliskova, but found herself at 5-4 down in the second set, with Svitolina serving for the match.
The fourth seed failed to take her chance, with Barty breaking and subsequently biting back in the tie-break, before carrying the momentum into the decider to claim a third straight win over Svitolina.
Top seed Elise Mertens made it to her second Istanbul Open as she saw off her doubles partner and birthday girl Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-4.
It means Mertens will be playing in two finals on Sunday, as she pairs up with Kudermetova again in the doubles showdown against Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya.
Mertens' win ended Charleston champion Kudermetova's nine-match winning streak, and set up a final against the unseeded Sorana Cirstea, who defeated Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-4.
Jabeur endured an injury-hit start to 2023 but bounced back with a victory in Charleston and made it six wins on the bounce by overcoming Latvian Ostapenko 1-6 7-6 6-3 on Wednesday.
Next up for Jabeur is a potential quarter-final tie with Elena Rybakina – a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final.
Rybakina, who won the Indian Wells Open in March, came up trumps on that occasion, fighting back to win 3-6 6-2 6–2.
The Kazakh, seeded sixth, overcame German Jule Niemeier 7-5 6-3 in the round of 32 and will now face Beatriz Haddad Maia in the last 16.
World number two Aryna Sabalenka also booked her progression to the last eight, beating 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-3.
Coco Gauff, meanwhile, claimed her first victory in Stuttgart as she overcame a tough test from Veronika Kudermetova.
Gauff, the world number five, was taken to a deciding tie-break but ultimately prevailed 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-3). The American will face Anastasia Potapova in the next round.
Former world number one Karolina Pliskova defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in Wednesday's other encounter.
Murray won the match 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 to advance to the final, where he will play Matteo Berrettini on Sunday.
However, Kyrgios had greater concerns as he took to Instagram afterwards to say he was called a "little black sheep" by someone in attendance.
"When is this going to stop? Dealing with racial slurs from the crowd?" he wrote.
"I understand that my behaviour isn't the best all the time – but 'you little black sheep', 'shut up and play' – little comments like this are not acceptable. When I retaliate to the crowd, I get penalised. This is messed up."
Meanwhile, Murray's win saw him reach his first tour-level final on grass since 2016.
The three-time major winner upset Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round – his first win over a top-five opponent in six years – and followed that up against Kyrgios with another impressive performance.
"A lot of ups and downs, but I kept going and kept working and finally managed to get to another one. I am proud of the effort I have put in," Murray said after securing the win.
He moves up to 47th in the live ATP rankings – the first time he has been in the top 50 since May 2018 – and his clash with Berrettini will be his 70th career final.
"You're always battling yourself as well as the opponent, it's one of the difficult things about individual sports," he added in relation to Kyrgios' frustrations during the game.
"Nick has the potential to be one of the best players in the world, there's absolutely no question about that. But he obviously got very frustrated in the second set and made it a lot easier for me.
"I'm happy to be in the final. I've played well this week and I've got a great opportunity against Matteo tomorrow."
World number 60 Martincova recorded a 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 triumph over France's Oceane Dodin to ease into the second round in Nottingham.
Heather Watson, ranked 102nd in the world, had no problems as she eased past Katie Volynets 6-4 6-2, and fellow Briton Hannah Dart followed suit by defeating Donna Vekic 6-4 6-3.
Jodie Burrage completed the first-round sweep for British women, downing Lin Zhu 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
At the Rosmalen Grass Court Championship, top seed Aryna Sabalenka was due to face Kateryna Baindl but bad weather curtailed the day's play early.
Earlier on, Anna Kalinskaya edged out Suzan Lamens 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in the first round, while Catherine McNally, Storm Sanders, Olivia Gadecki and Jamie Loeb were all triumphant in qualifying.
Medvedev will replace Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings next Monday and the Russian could celebrate by claiming a first title of the year in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The top seed, who will not compete at Wimbledon due to a ban on Russian and Belarusian players, beat Frenchman Simon 7-5 6-4 on Thursday after saving three set points and storming back from 5-2 down in the opener, setting up a quarter-final against lya Ivashka.
Felix Auger-Aliassime, the second seed, defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-5), but third seed Taylor Fritz was beaten by wildcard Tim van Rijthoven in straight sets.
Alex de Minaur and Jenson Brooksby also made early exits, losing to French duo Adrian Mannarino and Hugo Gaston respectively.
Marton Fucsovics claimed the scalp of third seed Hurkacz to reach the last 16 at the Stuttgart Open, winning 7-5 6-7 (7-) 6-3
Shapovalov also lost his opening of the grass-court season, Oscar Otte getting the better of the fourth seed 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4)
There was no such trouble for top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Dominic Stricker 6-3 6-4, and Andy Murray accounted for seventh seed Alexander Bublik in straight sets.
The three-time major champion fell at the first hurdle for the seventh time this season, with Giron prevailing 6-3 6-4 after 75 minutes in Stuttgart.
Giron, who was runner-up to compatriot Tommy Paul in Dallas in February, broke in game six as he won nine out of 10 points, before going on to take the opening set.
Murray - a Stuttgart finalist in 2022 - looked to respond as he won eight of the opening nine points at the start of the second.
However, he saw two break points go begging as Giron held before breaking to 15 in game three.
It proved decisive for the American, who clinched victory with a love hold to set up a last-16 clash with Jack Draper.
Data Debrief: Murray set to drop out of world's top 100
Giron hit seven aces and won 80 per cent (33 out of 41) of his first-serve points on the way to claiming his first ATP win over a current or former world number one.
The 999th singles match of Murray's career ended in an 11th defeat of 2024. Having not won a completed match since beating Tomas Etcheverry at the Miami Open, the 37-year-old will drop out of the world's top 100 next week for the first time since January 2022.
The three-time major winner stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round – his first win over a top-five opponent in six years – and followed that up with another fine victory.
Murray, who last contested a final on grass when winning Wimbledon for a second time, prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 against Kyrgios.
He moves up to 47th in the live ATP rankings – the first time he has been in the top 50 since May 2018 – and will face Matteo Berrettini in what will be his 70th career final.
Aiming to keep alive his hopes of a ninth career title on grass, Murray saved both break points faced in the first set and showed good resolve to edge Kyrgios in the tie-break.
The second set was not as tightly contested, with the 35-year-old showing few signs of fatigue as he twice broke Kyrgios' serve to reach Sunday's final in Germany.
Berrettini had earlier defeated Oscar Otte 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5) to reach his first tour-level final of an injury-hit season.
The world number 10 fired 18 aces en route to overcoming home favourite Otte in a time of one hour and 48 minutes.
"I am really happy," Berrettini said in his on-court interview. "Arriving at the tournament, that was the goal [to reach the final].
"From thinking about it and actually making it is a big difference. I am happy I am here and have another chance to play another final after months without playing.
"This means this is my level and I have proved once again I am comfortable at this level and on this surface. I really like it here at Stuttgart."
Murray started his preparations for the grass-court swing with a run to the semi-finals of the challenger at Surbiton.
He knocked off seventh seed Alexander Bublik to reach the last eight in Stuttgart but a meeting with the top seed and world number five represented a much more imposing challenge.
It was one the two-time Wimbledon champion rose to emphatically, winning a first-set tie-break and then claiming the second set in comfortable fashion to cement a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win, gaining revenge for his contentious five-set defeat to the Greek at last year's US Open.
Murray's previous win over a top-five opponent came in the ATP Finals six years ago, when he defeated Novak Djokovic in a year that also saw him win Wimbledon.
"I thought I did well. He served unbelievably in the first set," Murray said in his on-court interview.
"I felt like I had very few chances, but when he was creating chances on my serve, I stayed strong.
"I played a really solid tie-break and in the second set, once I was in the rallies, I felt like I was dictating a lot of the points. It was a good performance."
Murray is up to 53rd in the live ATP rankings and is bidding to get back into the top 50 for the first time since 2018.
Standing between him and a place in the final is Nick Kyrgios, who was 7-6 (7-3) 3-0 up when Marton Fucsovics retired from their quarter-final clash.
Matteo Berrettini beat Lorenzo Sonego in three sets, while Oscar Otte won by walkover against Benjamin Bonzi.
At the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch, Daniil Medvedev saw off Ilya Ivashka 7-6 (10-8) 6-4.
Medvedev, who will soon return to world number one when the ranking points from the French Open come into effect, sees the grass-court season as a chance to cement his grip on that spot.
"I don't have many points to defend on grass and I have some to win, so hopefully I can play well, starting here," said Medvedev. "Every round is points and the higher you get, the more you need to step up."
He will face defending champion Adrian Mannarino in the semi-finals, while second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime is into a last-four clash with home hope Tim van Rijthoven after beating Karen Khachanov.
The three-time grand slam winner struggled with the issue during Sunday's 6-4 5-7 6-3 defeat to Matteo Berrettini in the Stuttgart Open final.
Murray, who was competing in his first tour-level final on grass since 2016, twice received medical treatment but was able to finish the match.
He played five matches in Germany last week and four matches in Surbiton the week before en route to reaching the semi-finals.
Murray is due to play at Queen's this week before Wimbledon in a fortnight.
While frustrated with the manner in which his bid for a first grass-court singles title in six years ended, Murray says it is understandable that he is struggling physically.
"I felt like I was playing well enough to win and I got myself in a really good position going into the third set so a frustrating end to what was a good week," he said.
"I got some pain in my abdomen when I was serving. It's not something I've had before. I'll need to get it checked when I get home.
"This is the most matches I've played in two weeks since probably 2016. That's a really long time.
"It's probably normal that I would feel some stuff in my body but I don't really know the severity of it. Hopefully it's all right."
The former world number one made a great start to the grass-court season, reaching the Stuttgart Open final before falling to Matteo Berrettini.
Murray experienced discomfort during that showpiece in Germany, twice requiring medical timeouts as he battled the pain against the Italian.
The three-time grand slam winner Murray is a five-time Queen's champion but has had to pull out of the tournament, just two weeks before Wimbledon starts.
"After having a scan this afternoon, an abdominal injury means I won't be fit to compete at Queen's this year," Murray said in a statement.
"The tournament means a lot to me, and it's disappointing not to compete, especially after playing some good matches on the grass already."
The Scot was scheduled to play Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in the first round, but has been replaced by lucky loser Denis Kudla.
