Pliskova fights through Wimbledon opener against Zhu

LONDON, Great Britain - No.3 seed Karolina Pliskova zoomed through her first set and needed a tiebreak in the second to see off World No.101 Zhu Lin and soar into the second round at Wimbledon.

Pliskova couldn’t have asked for a better warmup for Wimbledon than her clinical run at Eastbourne last week. She dropped just 19 games, the fewest games lost en route winning a WTA title in 2019, and took down Angelique Kerber and Kiki Bertens along the way.

But success at Wimbledon tuneup tournaments hasn’t often translated into Grand Slam triumph for Pliskova: she’s only reached the second week here once before, in last year’s fourth round run, and before that was on a five-year streak of second-round exits.

Read more: Pliskova soars past Kerber to second Eastbourne title: 'I didn't do much wrong today'

Pliskova looked eager to change her fortunes, though, and she took that momentum with her into her first-round match encounter against China’s Zhu on Court 2. She raced through her first set but needed a tiebreak to edge through in the second, saving three set points to win 6-2, 7-6(4).

“I think it's tough to compare [today’s match] with the week in Eastbourne,” Pliskova said in her post-match press conference. “I think it was quite normal. Of course, it went little bit longer and I almost drop a set. It's still almost. I played two sets, that's fine.”

The Czech looked comfortable in the opening exchanges, breaking early to go up an early break and start the contest with a 3-0 lead. But Zhu, who has yet to win a main draw match in her five previous Grand Slam appearances, seemed to warm up as the set unfolded, and she quickly responded with a break back at 3-2. 

In photos: Tennis, anyone? The best pictures as Wimbledon 2019 gets underway

The former World No.1 was undaunted, reeling off the last three games in a row - saving a break point as Zhu kept the pressure on - and taking the opening set 6-2. Pliskova and Zhu were toe to toe in the second set, with the first 10 games in a row going to the server and no break points on offer, 5-5. 

It was Zhu who struck first, taking advantage of some Pliskova unforced errors to break serve at the crucial moment to go up 6-5. The pair then wrestled through the longest game in the match, with Zhu coming back from 15-40 down to create three set points.

Pliskova managed to hold firm, finally converting her sixth break chance of the game to send them into a tiebreak. The pair were deadlocked again in the decider, exchanging mini-breaks and staying level at 4-4. But the Czech player dialed up the intensity when it counted, and reeled off the next three points in a row to see off Zhu and book her spot in the next round.

Into the second round, Pliskova now awaits the winner between either Olympic champion Monica Puig or Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.