Mertens moves past Pliskova into last 16 in Cincinnati
Elise Mertens cruises past Karolina Pliskova in straight sets on Wednesday at the Cincinnati WTA 1000. Qualifier Caroline Garcia is next up for the Belgian.
Elise Mertens beat No 14 seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (3), 6-3 in round two of the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Tennis Family Center in Cincinnati on Wednesday afternoon.
Next up for the Belgian is French qualifier Caroline Garcia. It has been a flawless week so far for Mertens, who eased past Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match.
Pliskova was unable to build on her previous performance, a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Venus Williams.
Cincinnati WTA 1000, other second-round matches and results:
- Paula Badosa vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
- Shelby Rogers vs. Amanda Anisimova
- Aryna Sabalenka vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Veronika Kudermetova vs. Simona Halep
- Madison Keys vs. Jelena Ostapenko
- Elena Rybakina vs. Garbine Muguruza
- Iga Swiatek vs. Sloane Stephens
- Victoria Azarenka vs. Emma Raducanu
- Jessica Pegula (7) beat Marta Kostyuk: 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2
- Marie Bouzkova vs. Alison Riske-Amritraj
- Shuai Zhang beat Ekaterina Alexandrova: 6-3, 6-4
- Ons Jabeur (5) beat Catherine McNally (WC): 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7)
- Petra Kvitova beat Sorana Cirstea: 6-2, 6-3
- Caroline Garcia beat Maria Sakkari (4): 7-6(2), 6-7(6), 6-1
- Anett Kontaveit (2) beat Tereza Martincova (Q): 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
