With her fiancé watching her from the stands, the newly-engaged world No.1 Karolina Pliskova made a sluggish start to her US Open campaign, even though her 6-2 6-1 first-round result against world No.72 Magda Linette doesn’t reflect it.
Playing as top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career, Pliskova’s performance was below par in the first set, as she struggled with serve and unforced errors. In-between sets the roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed because a few drops of rain visited the court and in the indoor conditions Pliskova’s performance continued to be the same, as the Czech did march to a 4-1 lead, but her game was simply not confident and strong enough.