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Wimbledon 2017: Karolina Pliskova lives up to favourite tag with strong start
Third seed Karolina Pliskova beat Russian Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-4 to cruise into the second round of Wimbledon 2017.
Karolina Pliskova underlined why she is the bookmakers’ favourite to win Wimbledon as the world number three crushed Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 6-4 in the first round on Tuesday.
With defending champion Serena Williams sidelined due to the impending birth of her first child, there is a power vacuum at the top of women’s tennis and Pliskova could be poised to fill it.
(Read | Wimbledon 2017: Novak Djokovic into 2nd round as Martin Klizan retires injured)
The 25-year-old Czech emerged as a potential star when she reached the US Open final last year and she has followed up on that breakthrough by making the French Open semi-finals last month.
Pliskova showed her grass-court prowess by winning the Wimbledon warm-up at Eastbourne last week and looked at home on Court One at the All England Club as she demolished Russian world number 80 Rodina in just 71 minutes.
Hoping to reach the Wimbledon third round for the first time, Pliskova will face Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova in the last 64.
(Read | Wimbledon 2017: Angelique Kerber survives rocky opening test to reach Round 2)
Muguruza, Radwanska off to winning start
Spaniard Garbine Muguruza launched her campaign with a convincing 6-2 6-4 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in just over an hour.
The 2015 finalist put on a fine performance, claiming nine of 11 points at the net.
(Read | Confident Jelena Ostapenko keen to continue Wimbledon journey)
In another match, Agnieszka Radwanska overcame a tough first set before wrapping up her match in style, claiming a 7-6(3) 6-0 victory over Jelena Jankovic.
Meanwhile, Australian qualifier Arina Rodionova, ranked 166th, saved seven match points before defeating Russian 16th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 9-7.
