Karolina Pliskova won a routine first round match against wild card Kimberly Birrell 6-4 6-4 at Hisense Arena on Tuesday, during the second day of action at the Australian Open. The ninth seed will play the winner of the match between Julia Georges and Andreea Mitu. Pliskova’s best result in Melbourne was last year, where she reached the third round.
Pliskova Survives Exchange of Breaks, Wins First Set
In the first, Pliskova started the game by having three break points right out of the gate. She got the break after Birrell sent a forehand long. The Czech struggled a little bit in holding her first service game, but fought hard to hold and consolidate the break to go up 2-0 early. Pliskova continued to put pressure on Birrell in the following game as they played three deuce games, before the Australian managed to hold to get on the scoreboard.
Both players appeared to settle down after that, holding their next service games. Up 4-3, Pliskova got into trouble as Birrell continued to search for the break back. What seemed like a comfortable hold for the Czech, suddenly turned into a tight battle against Birrell as the Australian forced deuce after being down 15-40. In the second deuce of the game, Birrell hit a forehand winner down the line to get break point that she eventually converted after Pliskova dumped a backhand in the net.
However, it didn’t take long before Pliskova got the break back as Birrell hit three consecutive errors to start the ninth game of the set. The Czech got the break after the Australian hit a forehand into the net. Birrell didn’t make it easy for Pliskova to close the set. After being up 40-15, Pliskova didn’t convert the first two set points and found the game level at deuce. The Czech would hit a service winner that Birrell couldn’t handle to get her third set point. The Australian would give the first set to Pliskova as she dumped a forehand into the net to end the first set in 41 minutes.
Pliskova Hangs On To Win Match
An exchange of breaks started the second set. After Birrell holds in the first service game, she broke Pliskova in her first service game of the set to go up 2-0. The Czech looked like she was going to hold, but found herself in a deuce game as the Australian continued to put pressure on her. Birrell got a lot of balls back, making Pliskova play one extra ball. The Czech hit back-to-back errors to give Birrell the early break.
Pliskova never deterred by the break as she responded back in the following game. She got two break points of Birrell’s serve, with both saved by the Australian. Pliskova then hit a forehand winner on the next point to get her third break point, that she converted this time with a great return. Tied at 2-2, Pliskova got another break point after Birrell misread the ball. The Australian gave the break on the next point as she hit a backhand error and Pliskova took a 3-2 lead.
Both players held their service games after that with Pliskova hanging to the break lead. Serving for the set, Pliskova didn’t get into any more trouble as she used her big u,nreturnable serves to win the set and close the match in 79 minutes.
Match Statistics
Pliskova got 62 percent of her first serves in, winning 81 percent of those first serves, while Birrell had trouble putting her first serves in play as she only got 48 percent in. She won only 38 percent of those points. These numbers tell how Pliskova was able to return most of Birrell’s first serves and how bad the Australian’s return game was overall. The Czech hit 30 winners, including 13 aces. That is a big component of Pliskova’s game as she got out of trouble using her serve. She did hit 28 unforced errors, while the Australian hit 16 winners and 25 unforced errors.