Pliskova cruises past Venus Williams in Cincinnati first round
Karolina Pliskova defeats Venus Williams in straight sets on Tuesday afternoon at the Cincinnati WTA 1000. Thus begins what could be a tough day for the Williams sisters.
Karolina Pliskova at Montreal in 2021 ©
The Williams sisters did not get easy draws at the Western & Southern Open, and one is already out.
Ahead of Tuesday night’s showdown between Serena Williams and Emma Raducanu, Venus Williams lost to Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-1 during first-round action. Pliskova advanced at the Linder Tennis Family Center after one hour and 41 minutes.
Next up for the Czech is Elise Mertens, who destroyed Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-1.
Cincinnati WTA 1000, other first-round matches and results:
- Serena Williams vs. Emma Raducanu
- Madison Keys vs. Yulia Putintseva
- Anastasia Potapova vs. Simona Halep
- Coco Gauff vs. Marie Bouzkova
- Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Jelena Ostapenko
- Sofia Kenin vs. Shelby Rogers
- Marta Kostyuk vs. Camila Giorgi
- Martina Trevisan vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Shuai Zhang beat Naomi Osaka: 6-4, 7-5
- Elise Mertens beat Anhelina Kalinina (Q): 6-1, 6-1
- Sorana Cirstea beat Belinda Bencic (12): 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4
- Sloane Stephens (WC) beat Alize Cornet: 6-1, 6-0
- Caroline Garcia (Q) beat Petra Martic (LL): 6-3, 6-3
- Ajla Tomljanovic (Q) beat Taylor Townsend (Q): 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
- Victoria Azarenka beat Kaia Kanepi: 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
- Tereza Martincova (Q) beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz (LL): 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3
- Ekaterina Alexandrova beat Leylah Fernandez (13): 6-4, 7-5
- Petra Kvitova beat Jil Teichmann: 6-7 (2), 7-6 (6), 6-3
- Catherine McNally (WC) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2)
- Alison Riske-Amritraj beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 6-1, 7-6(2)
- Amanda Anisimova beat Daria Kasatkina (9): 6-4, 6-4
- Veronika Kudermetova beat Barbora Krejcikova: 6-3, 6-3
- Elena Rybakina beat Mayar Sherif: 6-3, 6-2
