Pliskova beats Azarenka to break through at Wimbledon

Finally, in her seventh visit to Wimbledon, Karolina Pliskova progressed to the third round for the first time.

It seems a somewhat extraordinary stat for a former world No.1 and US Open finalist who has reached at least the quarterfinal stage of all other major tournaments.

Yet here she was on Wednesday, working towards stopping that gap on her otherwise impressive tennis CV. And doing so against Victoria Azarenka no less, a former No.1 and two-time major champion herself.

Pliskova, seeded No.7, was one of several seeds moving through to the last 32 at SW19.

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Americans Venus Williams (9), Madison Keys (10) and Serena Williams (25) also advanced; Venus for the second successive match dropped the first set before recovering to beat Alexandra Dulgheru 4-6 6-0 6-1, while Keys brushed aside Luksika Kumkhum 6-4 6-3.

Serena later took to Centre Court and extended her winning streak at Wimbledon to 16 matches with a 6-1 6-4 triumph over Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova.

No.13 seed Julia Goerges got past Vera Lapko of Belarus to advance to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in six years.

Venus next faces 20th seed Kiki Bertens – a straight-sets winner over Russia’s Anna Blinkova – while 29th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu crushed British wildcard Katie Swan 6-0 6-3 to book a date with Pliskova.

A career-best moment at #Wimbledon for @KaPliskova… pic.twitter.com/YL06QsCbHd

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 4, 2018

Pliskova’s first comment during her post-match television interview was that she was pleased to finally break her second-round duck.

“This year I tried to not put that much pressure (on myself) because last year I think I put too much, and I was second seeded here. Everybody thought maybe I’m going to win. The pressure was a little bit bigger,” she admitted.

“I didn’t change many things, but I just believed. Look, I always believed that I can get far here. I don’t know if third round, fourth round, but there is always a chance for me.

“But this time, I was playing against good player, so the pressure was little bit also on her side today. I was playing more freely today.”

The result was a far cry from Pliskova’s previous two matches against Azarenka – a straight sets loss on hard court in Miami in March and a scratchy three-set win on Madrid’s clay courts.

“I feel okay. I feel my shots are working here. My serve is quite effective, as well. I’m able to mix the speed with the serve to hit some slices, as well,” Pliskova said.

“I feel like my game, if I play well, doesn’t matter which surface I play. It’s just about, like, me, how I play, how I feel. There is a chance to beat everybody.”

Buzarnescu will be wary.