Mertens and Kudermetova through to next round of Ostrava Open

Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova advanced to the next round of Ostrava Open following victories on Thursday.

Karolina Muchova took on Elise Mertens in front of her home crowd but it wasn't what many had hoped it would be. The Belgian went on to win the match 6-4 6-2 in 85 minutes. The start of the match was shaky for Mertens who needed to save several break points in her first service game. She would need to save some more later throughout the set but she did so without a mistake. Muchova served very well and usually won games with ease. That changed very late in the set when she played her first bad game of the set and it was enough for Mertens to clinch the set 6-4.

The 2nd set was much easier for Elise because several aspects of the game changed in her favour. Firstly Muchova struggled in rallies allowing Elise to control the tempo and the points. Her serve wasn't as good as in the previous set where it bailed her out often. And lastly, Mertens served much better not even allowing Karolina a break point. The first set boosted her confidence and allowed her to take control of the match which she ultimately won.

The 2nd interesting match in the day was between Pliskova and Kudermetova. The native Czech player hoped for a strong result on her home soil and the start of the match was good. She looked comfortable and she served good which is always key. The Russian struggled immensely on her 2nd serve which Pliskova used to win the first set. The 2nd set was a complete mess for Pliskova as she barely could hit her serve. That proved problematic for her as Kudermetova read her serve better as well often attacking it early. Despite the struggled Pliskova remained in the set until the very end when she got broken for the 6-4 2nd set victory.

The final set early looked very ugly for Pliskova as she lacked any fighting spirit getting completely blow away by Kudermetova. The Russian looked aggressive and energetic while Pliskova resorted to defensive play at which she is very bad. Somehow she managed to pull the break back but also lose her serve in the very next game without winning a point. She lost the game by smacking the ball into the next on a very easy shot. Kudermetova proceeded to end the match in the next game 6-3.