{"id":39885,"date":"2017-08-10T06:28:25","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T06:28:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=39885"},"modified":"2017-08-10T06:28:25","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T06:28:25","slug":"new-no-1-pliskova-opens-second-round-win-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/tennis\/new-no-1-pliskova-opens-second-round-win-toronto.html","title":{"rendered":"New No. 1 Pliskova opens with second-round win in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

New No. 1 Pliskova opens with second-round win in Toronto<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Karolina Pliskova began her run as world No. 1 on a positive note, beating Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the Rogers Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Czech, who had a first-round bye, extended her winning streak over the 19th-ranked player to five matches. She earned the No. 1 ranking when Johanna Konta beat Romania’s Simona Halep in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I had a little bit (of nerves) before my match because I really wanted to win this one,” Pliskova said. “Also, I knew I have a good record against her. So I just knew if I play solid and OK I can win it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Halep, now ranked second and the defending Rogers Cup champion, defeated Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-4, in one of the day’s late matches.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other second-round play, ninth seed Venus Williams earned her second career win in Toronto, a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Katerina Siniakova. Williams, the runner-up at the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, hadn’t won in the Canadian city until she beat Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was well-earned. I had to wait a long time for win No. 2,” Williams said. “So I would like to build on that to win No. 3.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Pliskova, who broke Pavlyuchenkova seven times over the 72-minute match, said that being the top player in the world didn’t make her feel any different before it started.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I was not really thinking about this,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think some moments (of the match) were OK, but otherwise the serve was not great and overall I was not real happy with my game today. But it was enough and so another chance tomorrow to improve.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Pliskova will play Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the third round. The 50th-ranked Osaka upset No. 16 Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 6-4.<\/span><\/p>\n

In another upset, American teenager CiCi Bellis downed eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 7-5. Bellis won 74 percent (39 of 53) of her first-service points and broke the 32-year-old Russian three times.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 18-year-old Bellis, ranked 36th in the world, broke Kuznetsova in the first game of the first set and twice more in the second, including in a crucial 11th game that gave her a 6-5 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think I played really well today,” Bellis said following the second career win against a top-10 opponent. “Obviously I told myself I had to because she’s unbelievable.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Bellis will face France’s Caroline Garcia, who defeated American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 6-1, 6-4, in the third round.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wimbledon champion and fourth seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain moved on with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens.<\/span><\/p>\n

Muguruza will next play Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty, who upset 16th-seeded Elena Vesnina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to advance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Agnieska Radwanska topped Timea Babos and Lucie Safarova moved on with a win over Dominika Cibulkova.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also Wednesday, American Sloane Stephens defeated Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-2, and Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova downed Konta 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the final match of the night, third-seeded Angelique Kerber advanced with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic, who beat Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in the first round.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/tennis\/2017\/08\/09\/new-no-1-pliskova-opens-with-second-round-win-in-toronto\/104454926\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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