Bertens not able to deal with Pliskova in Stuttgart

Kiki Bertens (WTA-21) was defeated in the first round by Karolina Pliskova (WTA-6 at the Premier tournament in Stuttgart. The Czech raced to a 6-2 6-2 victory within one hour.

The 26-year-old Pliskova, fifth seed at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, started at full throttle and raced to a 4-0 advantage in the opening set. Bertens had no answer to the strong hits of her opponent. Within 25 minutes the first set was finished in 6-2 by Pliskova, who scored twice as much points than the Dutch number one.

At the beginning of the second set the first four games were divided equally. At 2-2 Pliskova, who also played successfully in the semi-final of the Fed Cup in the Porsche Arena, broke Bertens’s service.

From that moment Bertens’s opposition seemed broken and the world’s number six stepped up a gear. The Czech won on her own service and at the second match point: 6-2.

Pliskova has to defeat the winner of the match between Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro (WTA-25) and qualifier Veronika Kudermetova (WTA-193) from Russia to reach the quarter finals.