Pliskova wins thriller against Azarenka at Madrid Open

Karolina Pliskova kept her winning run going and reached the third round for the first time with a dramatic win over Victoria Azarenka at the Madrid Open.

The Czech, coming off the back of a clay-court title in Stuttgart, won 6-2 1-6 7-5 in two hours and eight minutes, with the gripping contest finally ending after midnight local time.

Karolina Pliskova says that’s the worse she’s felt tennis-wise on the court for a long time. Has no idea what happened in the second set, but was quite frustrated with herself. But she’s into 3R of Madrid for the 1st time. #MMOPEN18

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) May 7, 2018

Pliskova has now won seven matches in a row on clay and has a 7-0 record in three-set matches in 2018.

Azarenka was making her first appearance on European clay for two years in Madrid, and her first outside the USA since July because of an ongoing custody battle over her son Leo.

The Belarusian beat Aleksandra Krunic in round one and got close to knocking out sixth seed Pliskova, only for the Czech to save four break points at 5-5 in the final set.

.@KaPliskova’s winning streak on clay continues!

Tops Azarenka 6-2, 1-6, 7-5! Pliskova will face Sloane Stephens in the round of 16 at the @MutuaMadridOpen! pic.twitter.com/HEvhEVGenE

— WTA (@WTA) May 7, 2018

Pliskova had taken the first set with two breaks of serve before Azarenka came storming back in the second, as the wayward Czech fired 21 unforced errors.

Azarenka looked down and out at 0-3 in the decider but held on in a 12-minute service game and worked her way back to 3-3.

The two-time Australian Open champion the had four chances to break at 5-5 and serve for the match, but Pliskova held on with some big serves and one desperately close forehand winner, and went on to clinch a thrilling win.

Caroline Wozniacki earlier began her campaign with a hard-fought win over Australia’s Ash Barty to retain her hopes of reclaiming the No.1 ranking.

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The Dane, who could overtake Simona Halep this week, came back from 4-2 down in the final set to win 6-2 4-6 6-4.

Former champion Maria Sharapova won a remarkable 19 points in a row at one stage of her 7-5 6-1 first-round win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.

Did you miss that point of the match where @MariaSharapova won 19 straight points earlier today at the @MutuaMadridOpen?

We've got you covered! pic.twitter.com/ZXnIrAvvSs

— WTA (@WTA) May 7, 2018

US Open champion and ninth seed Sloane Stephens impressed in a 6-1 6-3 victory against Sam Stosur, while last year’s runner-up Kristina Mladenovic beat Shuai Zhang 6-4 4-6 6-3.

French seventh seed Caroline Garcia beat Petra Martic 6-3 7-5.