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The first-round Czech derby between Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova at the Bett1 Open on Monday went the latter’s way. The seventh seed picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win after 75 minutes of play. Pliskova contributed to 12 aces for the match to Kvitova’s seven.
But the twice Wimbledon champion won 80% of her first-serve points to opponent’s 71%. However, Pliskova struggled to win points off her second serve and Kvitova won 13 of 19 points played on the former world no. 1’s second serve.
Kvitova won 13 of 26 points played on her second serve. For the match, the former world no. 2 finished with 26 winners and 19 unforced errors. This is the first time since her Miami Open winning run that Kvitova’s won a match.
The clay season saw her lose in the first round of the two tournaments she played – the Mutua Madrid Open and the French Open. Between Madrid and Paris, Kvitova also injured her foot that prompted her to not play the Rome Open.
In the second round, Kvitova will play either Nadia Podoroska or Rebeka Masarova.
Bett1 Open: Sabine Lisicki's fight goes in vain
The other match featuring a seed saw third seed Caroline Garcia advance into the second round.
The Frenchwoman beat former Wimbledon finalist and German wildcard, Sabine Lisicki. Garcia needed an hour and 30 minutes to come through 7-6(2), 6-3. The match featured only two breaks of serve, both of which came on Lisicki’s serve and in the second set.
Garcia went on to save all three break points she faced. Garcia won 79% of her first-serve points to Lisicki’s 72% and 58% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 50%. Both players hit 15 aces each across the proceedings.
In the second set, Garcia will play a qualifier in either Jaimee Fourlis or Xinyu Wang. Lastly, Donna Vekic also advanced to the round-of-16 at the Bett1 Open. The Croatian completed a 6-3, 6-2 win over Varvara Gracheva after an hour and 27 minutes of play. Photo Credit: Petra Kvitova Twitter