Pliskova beats Martic in Zhengzhou to win her fourth title of 2019
ByReuters
Published 15/09/2019 at 14:50 GMT
Sept 15 (Reuters) - World number two Karolina Pliskova beat Croatia's Petra Martic 6-3 6-2 in the final of the inaugural Zhengzhou Open on Sunday to win the 15th WTA singles title of her career and her first in China.
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The title was the Czech's fourth of the season to add to trophies won in Brisbane, Rome and Eastbourne -- moving her ahead of Australian world number one Ash Barty and Canadian Bianca Andreescu for most titles won so far this year.
Pliskova won 74% of her first service points, fired seven aces and broke the Croatian four times in a rain-interrupted match that was initially delayed by more than five hours due to heavy rain.
Martic, who held a superior 4-1 head-to-head record against Pliskova and also beat her at Roland Garros earlier this year, took a 2-0 lead in the first set when she broke the top seed in the opening game.
However, that was the only time Pliskova conceded a break of serve and she soon took control with powerful groundstrokes, using the full width of the court to smash winners and passing shots with precision.
Martic's service game suffered -- she won only 53% of her first service points -- and Pliskova duly took advantage to punish the seventh seed and win five games in a row.
Pliskova's consistency in the baseline rallies was a force to reckon with and Martic had no answer to her superior court coverage, eventually conceding the 96-minute match after saving one championship point. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
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