Number 18 seed Karolina Pliskova breezed past 2008 Indian Wells champion Ana Ivanovic 6-2 6-0 in just 49 minutes to book her spot in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas in Indian Wells. The Czech star won ten consecutive game from 2-2 in the first set to close out the match.
Pliskova scored a surprisingly easy win against Ivanovic in what was expected to be one of the most eagerly-awaited third round matches. Ivanovic recently reached the semifinals in St. Petersburg and Dubai. Pliskova was looking to bounce back from a couple of early exits in Dubai and Doha.
Pliskova got an immediate break in the opening game. Ivanovic broke back in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Pliskova rallied from 0-40 in the fifth game to break serve again as Ivanovic made a double fault. Pliskova broke for the third time in the seventh game to pull away to 5-2 and served out for the first set in the next game in 28 minutes.
Pliskova went up a break in the first game of the second set as Ivanovic made two unforced errors. Pliskova got two more breaks to cruise to a 6-0 win setting up a fourth round match against this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta. Pliskova hit 18 winners.
Ivanovic was hampered by a knee injury.
Pliskova broke three more times and did not face any break point chances to score a bagel win in the second set to close out a one-sided match in just 49 minutes. Pliskova has extended her win-loss record against Ivanovic to 4-0 in their head-to-head matches. She had already beaten Ivanovic last January in Sydney.
“We have played a few times already and I have always won. I played really good tennis today and I am happy that I made the next round so fast. Last year I didn’t lose any first rounds in a row. Now I have lost twice in a row so I am just happy to have some matches and looking forward to the next one”, said Pliskova.
Pliskova’s next round opponent will be Johanna Konta who beat Denisa Allertova 6-4 6-1.
This year’s St.Petersburg champion Roberta Vinci beat Elina Svitolina 6-1 6-3 in 61 minutes. Vinci got a double break in the first and in the third games. The 2015 US Open finalist held her service game to race out to 4-0. After missing three break points for 5-0 at 15-40 on Svitolina’s serve in the fifth game, Vinci got her third break to love in the seventh game to close out the first set in 28 minutes.
Vinci got another break at 2-1 in the second set with a forehand return winner. Both players held their next service games until the ninth game. At 5-3 Vinci went down 0-40 and saved four break points for 4-5 with two winners and an unforced error from Svitolina before closing out the match on her first match point.
Vinci will take on Mgdalena Rybarikova who edged past Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-4 3-6 6-3. Bencic rallied from 1-4 in the third set by breaking back in the seventh game to claw her way back to 3-4. Rybarikova broke again in the next game to take a 5-3 lead and converted her second match point to serve out after two hours and seven minutes. Thanks to this win Vinci will move up to number 9 spot in the WTA Ranking.
