Number 3 seed Karolina Pliskova edged lucky loser Despina Papamichail 6-2 7-6 (7-4) after 1 hour and 19 minutes to advance to the second round of the Abu Dhabi WTA Women’s Tennis Open.
Papamichail replaced Sorana Cristea, who had to withdraw from the match due to an abdominal injury. The Greek player made her WTA Main Draw debut. Pliskova converted three of her six break points.
Pliskova earned the first break of the match with a backhand crosscourt winner in the fourth game of the first set to open up a 3-1 lead. Papamichail held serve at love in the sixth game for 2-4. Pliskova won her service game at love to build up a 5-2 lead. Papamichail made a double fault to face three set points points at 2-5 0-40 down. The Greek player forced an error with a strong backhand to fend off the first chance, but Pliskova wrapped up the first set with a volley winner on her second set point.
Pliskova broke serve at love in the eighth game to open up a 5-3 lead earning a chance to serve for the match. Papamichail hit a backhand passing winner down the line to earn three break points in the ninth game and got her first break at 30-40 when Pliskova sent a forehand wide after a long rally. Pliskova earned four match points with a forehand at 5-2. She missed her first two chances with a double fault and a missed return, but she converted her third match point with a deep return.
“Of course, I prepared for something, but I still had a couple of hours just to change my feeling about that match. No matter who was there, I wanted to play the best I can. I thought the first set was quite okay. Definitely I could do better at the end of the second set, when I was serving for the match, but I didn’t quite make it. Also credit to the opponent, she tried to make it a little bit difficult. Later in the second set, she was defending quite well”, said Pliskova.
Pliskova set up a second round match against either Mona Barthel or Anastasia Gasanova. The Czech player is aiming to win a title in the first week of the WTA season for the fourth time in five years after winning in Brisbane in 2017, 2019 and 2020.
