Karolina Pliskova eases through in Miami Open
Second seed Karolina Pliskova cruised into the third round of the Miami Open, the Czech beating American Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday.
While her serve was not at its best, the 25-year-old Pliskova never looked in danger, comfortably dominating while winning 78 percent of return points.
“There were a few tight games but I think I was pretty solid. It went quite easy and I was really happy to spend only an hour out there because it’s pretty hot and humid and so I am happy to save some power for the later matches,” said Pliskova.
Pliskova reached the semi-finals of Indian Wells last week and she said she was keen to avoid a repeat of last year when she made the last four in California but fell at the first hurdle.
Slovakian fourth seed Dominika Cibulkova needed to dig deep to fight past Paraguayan qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg.
The 90-minute encounter was far tougher for Cibulkova than the 6-3 6-2 scoreline suggests and she was relieved with the win.
Cibulkova faces another test, though, against Belgian Kirsten Flipkens, who fought her way past Croatian Ana Konjuh 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.
TOMIC OUT WITH INJURY
Bernard Tomic’s woes continued Thursday as he pulled out of the Miami Open due to a back injury, the latest setback in a disappointing year for the Australian. Ranked 17th in the world as recently as November, Tomic tumbled down to 44th. Since a third-round Australian Open exit, the 24-year-old has lost four first-round matches to lowlyranked opponents.
TSONGA BECOMES DAD
PARIS: French tennis No1 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga announced the birth of his first child on Friday posting a classic maternity ward photo and message on Twitter.
“With stars in my eyes, I’m delighted to announce the birth of our son,” read a message beneath a snap of Tsonga smiling with the baby in his arms.
The 31-year-old world No 10 --winner of back-to-back tournaments at Marseille and Rotterdam in February --- pulled out of Miami a week ago to be present for the birth alongside his partner Noura El Shwekh.