Karolina Pliskova advances to third round of the China Open

BEIJING, China
Karolina Pliskova came through a stern test against Andrea Petkovic to reach the last 16 of the China Open 6-4, 6-4.

Pliskova had lost her previous meeting with the WTA World No.107 so was well aware of the challenge facing her before taking the court, yet she made a confident start and earned two break points in the opening game.

Petkovic saved those and grew in confidence as the set progressed, belying her ranking and rekindling the type of powerful play that had seen her emerge through the qualifiers and then past Kiki Bertens in the first round.

"I thought she played very well today," Pliskova said. "I didn't expect her to play that way because I know she's struggled in the last few tournaments. But she had won three matches and she had nothing to lose."