Karolina Pliskova started her title defence in Eastbourne with a hard-fought 6-4 2-6 6-3 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The Czech, who lost her opening match last week in Birmingham to eventual runner-up Magdalena Rybarikova, seemed determined to avoid a similar fate here.
Pliskova broke in the opening game of the match and raced into a 2-0 lead. She then withstood severe pressure from the Russian as she saved four break points in game four.
However, that was the last time Pavlyuchenkova made a real impression against the Czech’s serve in the first set, and the World No.7 soon wrapped it up 6-4.
The second set could hardly been more different, as the World No.29 punished Pliskova’s suddenly-faltering serve to gain two early breaks.
Pavlyuchenkova then recorded a couple of easy holds to move into a 5-2 lead, before breaking the Czech for a third time to clinch the set.
Pliskova edges decider
The final set was a tight affair. Both players served well and this meant that each only had one opportunity to break.
Pliskova took her chance and it made all the difference because she continued to win the vast majority of points (77%) on her serve.
This enabled the Czech to open up a 5-3 lead and put Pavlyuchenkova’s serve under pressure. The Russian clearly felt the strain, and she made a succession of errors to ensure Pliskova got the win.
“It was very close,” Pliskova said in her on-court interview. “It’s tough to come to this tournament and defend the title, but I was feeling OK today so I’m happy that I got three sets on this court and I’m happy that I got my first win.”
She continued, “I have good memories of the last two years here because I made the final and then won the title, so obviously I like this tournament so much.”
“The weather is amazing so hopefully it can stay like this and I can play some better tennis than today.”
