THE first match at Rod Laver kicked off with Kristina Mladenovic and Karolina Pliskova going head-to-head, with the world number two maintaining her undefeated year so far with a 6-1 7-5 win. Pliskova started with the serve and quickly rubbed salt into wounds with the Czech winning the first game in two minutes to ultimately help set the tone for the rest of the match. However, as the match went on the intensity increased with Mladenovic really putting up a fight in the second set to worry her higher ranked opponent despite floating in and out of the contest earlier in the match.

Both players were nimble on their feet, covering the court well but it was clear that Pliskova was a class above, seeing the space and capitalising with her perfectly placed hits. She showcased her impressive forehand while Mladenovic struggled on the serve in the first couple of games, unable to find her rhythm. An early double fault from Pliskova gave Mladenovic a sniff of hope to win her first game but the Czech star steadied, finding her feet and using the angles to cut across the court and force unplayable shots. The Frenchwoman looked out of sorts struggling to combat anything Pliskova dished up. Mladenovic’s unforced errors were high with her shots often hitting the net or going too long, racking up 23 unforced errors compared to 17. Despite being down five games to none, Mladenovic rallied to put some heat back on Pliskova to claim her first game of the match and build some momentum although it was only short lived. It was a clinical performance by Pliskova who won the first set in 26 minutes, 6-1.

The second set had a different flavour to it, with Mladenovic gaining some momentum and pushing Pliskova more than she had in the previous set. Her ball placement forced Pliskova to run around the court and not control the play as easily which gifted the Frenchwoman the first game of the set. Mladenovic rode the wave of momentum throughout the second set playing with more freedom and precision, not afraid to back herself and deliver well executed points. It was game for game in the second with neither player willing to give an inch and unable to break each other’s serve, making for a long and gruelling battle before Pliskova found her mojo to break her opponent’s serve and regain control of the match. But France’s Mladenovic showed that two can play at that game, breaking back to be on level pegging and then leap ahead. The lead ebbed and flowed throughout the second set with both players fighting hard to keep their Australian Open chances alive but in the end, it was the skill and experience of Pliskova that prevailed 6-1 7-5.

Pliskova let her serve do the talking, throwing down five aces and only collecting three double faults compared to her French competitor who at times was unable to muster up the precision and accuracy on the serve, recording seven double faults and only winning 63 per cent of her first serves. Her speed on the first serve was also highly impressive averaging 173km as opposed to 158km, showing just how hard she is to stop when on song and serving up bullets. Pliskova made her presence felt in close at the net winning 68 per cent while Mladenovic did not have the same impact, only managing 36 per cent.

The win sees the world number two progress through to the next stage of the Australian Open.