Karolina Pliskova pulled off a battling win over Victoria Azarenka to advance to the third round of the Madrid Open, where she will face US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
The world No. 6 was forced to dig deep against the two-time finalist in what was a topsy-turvy match, but ultimately exacted revenge for her defeat to Azarenka in Miami.
Pliskova, a French Open semi-finalist in 2017, has made a fine start to the clay-court season after winning in Stuttgart but the tough opposition keeps on coming after her 6-2 1-6 7-5 win over the two-time Grand Slam champion.
She will face another major winner in the form of Stephens, who put in a confident display against Sam Stosur in the final match on Arantxa Sanchez.
The American dominated from start to finish and wrapped up a comfortable 6-1 6-3 victory to set up another mouth-watering WTA tie against Pliskova.
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The sixth seed will no doubt be full of confidence after her latest win and she got off to a flying start on Manolo Santana to break the former world No. 1 in the first game of the match.
A wayward backhand from the Belarusian handed Pliskova a second break and a 5-2 lead in the opener and the Czech duly served it out.
Azarenka hit back early in the second, breaking for a 2-0 lead, and she soon had a double break as Pliskova double faulted to find herself 4-0 down.
The 2016 US Open finalist, who made 21 unforced errors in the second set, did get herself on the board and avoid the bagel but Azarenka made no mistake in levelling the match.
Pliskova, again, snatched the momentum in the decider as she stormed to a 3-0 lead, but Azarenka would not lie down easily and clawed her way back to 3-3.
At 5-5, Azarenka pushed the Czech hard but she showed real steel to hold and broke to secure a fine victory in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
More: Tennis
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Karolina Pliskova pulled off a battling win over Victoria Azarenka to advance to the third round of the Madrid Open, where she will face US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
The world No. 6 was forced to dig deep against the two-time finalist in what was a topsy-turvy match, but ultimately exacted revenge for her defeat to Azarenka in Miami.
Pliskova, a French Open semi-finalist in 2017, has made a fine start to the clay-court season after winning in Stuttgart but the tough opposition keeps on coming after her 6-2 1-6 7-5 win over the two-time Grand Slam champion.
She will face another major winner in the form of Stephens, who put in a confident display against Sam Stosur in the final match on Arantxa Sanchez.
The American dominated from start to finish and wrapped up a comfortable 6-1 6-3 victory to set up another mouth-watering WTA tie against Pliskova.
AdvertisementAdvertisement
The sixth seed will no doubt be full of confidence after her latest win and she got off to a flying start on Manolo Santana to break the former world No. 1 in the first game of the match.
A wayward backhand from the Belarusian handed Pliskova a second break and a 5-2 lead in the opener and the Czech duly served it out.
Azarenka hit back early in the second, breaking for a 2-0 lead, and she soon had a double break as Pliskova double faulted to find herself 4-0 down.
The 2016 US Open finalist, who made 21 unforced errors in the second set, did get herself on the board and avoid the bagel but Azarenka made no mistake in levelling the match.
Pliskova, again, snatched the momentum in the decider as she stormed to a 3-0 lead, but Azarenka would not lie down easily and clawed her way back to 3-3.
At 5-5, Azarenka pushed the Czech hard but she showed real steel to hold and broke to secure a fine victory in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
More: Tennis
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