Karolina Pliskova’s quest to surpass her best-ever quarterfinal appearance at Melbourne Park last year has started on a positive note with a solid win over Veronica Cepede Royg at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
The Czech No.6 seed, now 25, looked ominous both in stature – she towered some nine inches over her opponent – and performance as she moved largely untroubled through the match 6-3 6-4.
“The first match is always tough,” Pliskova said. “Hopefully I will continue to improve each time.”
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With coach Thomas Krupa by her side for the first time in a major, Pliskova make her Paraguayan opponent work hard from the outset, with Cepede Royg hanging grimly onto her opening service game with some grinding work from the baseline before conceding at the very next asking.
Pliskova then stretched her lead further before the steady play of Cepede Royg began to pay dividends, claiming back one of two breaks. The fightback only seemed to stir the Czech into action though as she upped the ante and captured the first set with some especially clean hitting.
The second set was mostly about the Czech, as she began to impose herself on the match. Cepede Royg enjoyed some moments – such as a break to love when down 0-2 – but in the end it didn’t account to much as Pliskova remained in the driver’s seat, despite her mounting unforced errors (36 for the match), when it mattered most.
A final flutter from Cepede Royg delayed the seemingly inevitable when Pliskova served for the match, but again the Czech delivered, extinguishing any last hopes in the very next game.
The Paraguayan’s eight double faults for the match compared to Pliskova’s one – and almost the reverse on the aces count; one to seven – didn’t help her cause.
While enjoying her best year on the WTA Tour in 2017, Cepede Royg, 25, is still searching for a maiden top-10 win, her best effort coming at the last French Open, where she beat Lucie Safarova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on her way to the fourth round – where she was again undone by Pliskova.
Despite the loss, she will take heart from her positive start to 2018 where she beat Lara Arruabarrena in Auckland and qualified in Sydney.
Meanwhile, Pliskova will take up arms against either Australian wildcard Lizette Cabrera or Brasil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in a second-round encounter on Thursday.