Karolina Pliskova

Sixth-ranked Karolina Pliskova defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 here to advance to the third round of the Madrid Open tennis championships for the first time in her career. The Czech player on Monday needed two hours and eight minutes to get past Azarenka, who put up a harder fight than many expected given that her last appearance on clay was nearly two years ago, reports Efe.