It was a third round battle of the seeds on the first match at Margaret Court Arena. It was an exact rematch of last year at the same stage of the Australian Open, as ninth seed Karolina Pliskova went up against the 21st seed, Ekaterina Makarova. Pliskova was looking to reverse her 0-2 head to head against Makarova to go through to the fourth round, but it was Makarova who played two sets of clinical tennis, toppling the top 10 seed 6-3, 6-2. The Russian is yet to drop a set all week.
Comfortable Makarova Hitting All The Winners
Both woman started off comfortably on their serves, and it was Makarova who looked slightly more comfortable in the early stages. The Russian made her move in the sixth game, winning the first point after a 15 shot rally. Makarova sensed her chance and broke Pliskova to go 4-2 up.
Pliskova went in search of the break immediately in the next game but it was not enough as the Russian hung on to extend her lead to 5-2. The Czech was in real trouble in the eight game as Makarova pushed to seal the set. Facing two break points, Pliskova did well to save them relying on her serve to give herself hope and make it 5-3.
The 21st seed faced some pressure to close the set as errors started trickling in which provided Pliskova with break point opportunity. The Russian was unfazed as she unleashed a forehand down the line winner to bring it back to deuce before setting up set point. Makarova wrapped the set on her third set point 6-3 in 36 minutes.
Pliskova Not Allowed Any Chance As Makarova Finishes The Job
Makarova continued hitting more winners than her opponent. Pliskova had a difficult third game as Makarova stepped it up but the Czech does well to hold. In the fifth game, the Russian hit a beauty of an angled forehand winner to set up another break point chance. A long rally ensued and Makarova prevailed breaking to lead 3-2.
The Russian held serve comfortably and continued with the pressure on Pliskova's serve. The Czech's serve was unable to help her as much as she would have liked, as she was broken one more time to trail 2-5. Makarova went on to complete the victory comfortably beating the ninth seed 6-3, 6-2 in 70 minutes.
The clinical Russian next takes on Britain's Johanna Konta in the fourth round.
Match Statistics
Makarova won 75 percent of her first serves which was better than Pliskova, who only managed to win 58 percent of them. More winners came off Makarova's racket as she hit 35 of them to Pliskova's 16. The Russian also had less unforced errors at 15, compared to Pliskova's 19.
The Czech barely got a look in on the Russian's serves as she only had one break point chance throughout the whole match and did not convert. In contrast, Makarova created eight opportunities and converted three of them.