By Chris Oddo | Monday June 18, 2018
Karolina Pliskova notched another win over Karolina Pliskova on grass, knocking the No.3 seed out in straight sets.
Photo Source: Jordan Mansfield/Getty
Last year Karolina Pliskova came into Wimbledon with the Eastbourne title in two but had her eight-match winning streak snapped by Magdalena Rybarikova, who would go on to reach the semifinals.
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Lightning struck again on Monday, as the Slovakian trounced Pliskova, 6-2, 6-3, to book her spot in the second round at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham.
Rybarikova, 29 years of age and ranked 19 in the world, improved to 35-23 lifetime at WTA-level on grass, and 10-3 on the surface since the beginning of last season.
“I always say that every match is very different,” Rybarikova said, according to WTATennis.com. “Karolina is a great player, and I have a lot of respect for her. Today I don’t think it was her best day, but it was all about serves and returns and I was just better at that. That was the key.”
Rybarikova saved both break points she faced and converted on four of six of her own to improve to 2-0 lifetime against the Czech.
She’ll next face France’s Kristina Mladenovic, who defeated Katerina Siniakova 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round.
Other winners on Day 1 in Birmingham were Naomi Osaka, who raced past Great Britain’s Katie Boulter, 6-1, 6-2, and Daria Gavrilova, who defeated Dominika Cibulkova, 6-3, 7-6(6).