Karolina Pliskova described 2019 as her best season so far after she made light work of Madison Brengle during a comprehensive 6-2 6-3 win in the first round of the French Open.
The Czech, 27, arrived in Paris full of confidence after she lifted the trophy in Rome. And she looked relaxed throughout as she beat the American without ever reaching top gear.
“(My tennis) was solid today,” Pliskova said in her post-match press conference. “The first round is always tricky. You don’t know how you’re going to feel, how you’re going to play. But I had a good couple of days of practice, so I felt fine.”
She continued, “Because I’m having a good season, of course there’s going to be pressure on me to go far in the tournaments, but that’s normal. Almost every season is quite similar. Of course, this one is so far the best, but always there is some kind of pressure, so I’m fine with that.”
As she often does, Pliskova lost the first two games of the match as she adjusted to the court and the surroundings.
But if anyone watching was worried about an upset, their fears did not last long. The Czech demolished Brengle’s serve twice in a row to build momentum, and then rattled off three more games to take the set 6-2. She also unleashed an impressive array of forehand winners.
The second set was a messier affair. Pliskova produced excellent tennis in patches and broke the American four times. However, she also played two poor service games as she was broken twice.
Despite these stutters, the inevitable result was soon confirmed as the World No.2 broke to love to seal her passage into round two.
Pliskova knows she will need to play better in future rounds to reach the later stages in Paris. And she might have to start improving in her next match, as her opponent will be the in-form Karolina Kucova, who came through qualifying and then impressively beat 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in round one.
“It’s going to be difficult,” Pliskova said. “But I feel like every time I play tournaments, I improve from match to match. Hopefully that’s going to happen here too.”
Bencic Impresses In First Round Win
Belinda Bencic has not had much success at Roland Garros. In three previous visits, she has never made it past the second round.
But maybe this time things will be different, as 2019 is already shaping up to be the best of the Swiss player’s career. She won a Premier title in Dubai and reached Premier semi-finals in Indian Wells and Madrid.
The location of that second semi-final run is significant, as it shows that Bencic is performing better on clay than in previous seasons.
The World No.15 certainly looked full of confidence in her first-round match against Jessika Ponchet. She hit 30 winners to all parts of the court as she beat the Frenchwoman 6-1 6-4 in just 65 minutes.
Bencic’s next opponent will be Laura Siegemund. The German beat qualifier Sofya Zhuk 6-3 6-3.
