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The fourth-seeded Vinci was a 6-4, 6-4 loser to Kristyna
Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the indoor hard-court
tournament. Vinci is ranked No. 35 in the world, and Pliskova is
No. 58.
Also exiting early on the first day was eighth-seeded Monica
Niculescu of Romania. She fell 6-2, 6-2 to Elise Mertens of
Belgium.
Mona Barthel of Germany beat Jana Cepelova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4
in the first match of the tournament, and Germany's Annika Beck
topped Switzerland's Rebeka Masarova 6-4, 6-4.
The 25-year-old Pliskova rallied to beat the 34-year-old Vinci
at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships two months ago. This
time, Pliskova was aided by 10 aces and critical service breaks
in each set to oust Vinci in an efficient 1 hour, 13 minutes.
"I learned a lot from our match in Dubai and even more from the
time before I'd played her and I'd lost like 6-1, 6-1 five years
ago," Pliskova said. "I knew her slice is brilliant. She proved
that again, but I learned a lot from both matches."
Pliskova will next face Donna Vekic of Crotia or Sorana Cirstea
of Romania.
"I'm happy I'm back indoors because my serve works even better
here than outside," she said. "I think this match was pretty
solid from my side; I faced just one break point, which is kind
of good. She's not in her best form, so that helped me get it
done in two sets."
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