It’s job done for seeds Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova

Shahida Jacobs
January 17, 2019

There were contrasting wins for Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova during the second round of the Australian Open.

Sixth seed and WTA Finals champion Svitolina continued her blistering form in the season-opening Grand Slam as she required only one hour and seven minutes to dispatch Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I played really confidently all match so I’m very pleased with my performance,” the Ukrainian said after the match.

“It was amazing for me to win (the WTA Finals) and go undefeated throughout. It definitely brought me a lot of confidence and showed I can play at a really high level all week, so I’m just trying to transfer this to the Grand Slams.”

She will take on either Zhang Shuai or Kristyna Pliskova in the third round.

Former world No 1 Pliskova overcame a poor first set to beat Madison Brengle from the United States.

Brangle broke twice as she took the opening set in 37 minutes, but Pliskova eventually hit form and broke two times in the second send and three times in the third to win 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

“This match had a little bit of everything,” the Czech said after her victory. “Some breaks, some good tennis, and some bad mistakes from me too. The first set wasn’t very good from my side, but she played some good points and was very solid.

“She defends so well from the baseline so it was sometimes tough to close on my shots, but I’m glad I did it in the end.”

Pliskova will face Italian Camila Giorgi for a place in the fourth round after the 27th seed beat Iga Swiatek from Poland 6-2, 6-0.

Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu’s run came to an end as she was beaten 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 by 13th seed Anastasija Sevastova while the 12th seeded Elise Mertens beat Margarita Gasparyan 6-1, 7-5.