US Open 2020: Karolina Pliskova, Angelique Kerber ease into second round

First seed Karolina Pliskova got a roaring start to her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open on Monday, downing first-round opponent Anhelina Kalinina 6-4 6-0 to kick off the action in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 28-year-old Czech, who led the WTA in aces in four of the last five years, struggled with an uncharacteristically uneven serve in the first set, committing three double faults to give her unseeded opponent a fighting chance.

But Pliskova, the 2016 U.S. Open runner-up, found her footing in the second set, winning all her first-serve points and committing just one unforced error, as her Ukrainian opponent was left scrambling.

“I think my game was quite good for a first round,” said Pliskova, the world number three, who played in front of empty stands with crowd noise piped in as the tournament is being held without fans due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“For sure I prefer to have people around me,” she added.

Former champion Kerber eases into 2nd round

Meanwhile, Former champion Angelique Kerber returned to action for the first time in seven months and beat Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-4 to reach the second round.

The 17th-seeded German, who entered the match having not competed since the fourth round of the Australian Open, overcame a shaky start on serve and got better as the 88-minute match at Louis Armstrong Stadium wore on.

Kerber, a three-times Grand Slam champion who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2016, traded breaks with Tomljanovic through the first four games of the match and then found her footing to take over the match.

The German southpaw converted all three break point chances to pull ahead 5-4 and then went on to serve out at love to grab the first set.

In the second, Kerber settled into a groove and broke her opponent twice before sealing the win on her third match point when a Tomljanovic forehand sailed long.