Tennis: German Wild Card sets up dream date with Kerber; Kristyna Pliskova wins

Dubai - The opening day of the women's event also saw the fall of 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

On a cool Sunday evening, former world number one Jelena Jankovic found German wild card Mona Barthel too hot to handle in their first round clash of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Jankovic was a shadow of the player that reached the 2008 US Open final as she lost in straight sets to Barthel 6-1 6-3.
"I am very happy with the way I played today. It wasn't easy but I am glad that I won comfortably in the end," Barthel, the world number 111, said in the post-match on-court interview.
"I have just come back from an injury. But I have made a pretty good start to the new year. I am just happy to be back on court. I am just enjoying being here. And I am obviously very happy to be in the next round here."
In the next round, Barthel will play compatriot Angelique Kerber, the world number two who won the Australian Open and the US Open titles last year.
"I mean she is playing such great tennis. He had some amazing wins last year. But I have nothing to lose. I will just go out and try to enjoy the moment and let's see what happens."
In the last match of the day, Kristyna Pliskova, the twin sister of US Open runner-up Karolina, stunned 16th seed Roberta Vinci 3-6 7-5 6-3 to enter the second round.
Vinci, the 34-year-old Italian, was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Pliskova, the world number 58, made a remarkable comeback to clinch it in three sets.
"It was a very tough match. Roberta is a very tricky player. She played well today. I am just happy that I managed to win the match," Pliskova said after the match.
The opening day of the women's event also saw the fall of 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian lost her serve eight times in the seesaw three-set battle (7-6 2-6 6-4) against Tunisian Qualifier Ons Jabeur.
It's the biggest win of the 22-year-old Tunisian player's career. The 2011 junior French Open champion surprised the veteran Russian with her strong serve and ferocious groundstrokes. If she keeps playing like this, the world number 189 can surprise some more top players in future.
Jabeur's next opponent in Dubai will be Qiang Wang of China who beat rising Latvian star Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 6-2.
Earlier, veteran Australian Samantha Stosur of Australia comfortably overcame the challenge of Chinese Qualifer Kai-lin Zhang 6-3 6-3.
The 12th seeded Australian, who won the 2011 US Open title, hit four aces in match that lasted one hour 14 minutes.
Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia was also in top form on centre court in her 6-3 6-3 first round win over Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-3 6-3.
Three breaks of serve were enough for Garcia to book her place in the second round. The world number 24 will play the winner of Monday's first round match between Olympic singles champion Monica Puig and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.
Results
Sunday
Centre Court: (WC) Mona Barthel (GER) beat Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 6-1 6-3; (12) Samantha Stosur (AUS) beat Kai-Lin Zhang (CHN) 6-3 6-3; Naomi Osaka (JPN) beat (Q) Kai-Chen Chang (TPE) 6-2 6-4; (15) Caroline Garcia (FRA) beat Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-3 6-3.
Court 1: Qiang Wang (CHN) beat Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 7-6 6-2; Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) beat Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 6-1 7-5; Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) beat (Q) Lin Zhu (CHN) 6-3 6-1; (Q) Ons Jabeur (TUN) beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 7-6 2-6 6-4.
Court 3: (Q) Saisai Zheng (CHN) beat Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) 6-4 3-6 6-3; Viktorija Golubic (SUI) beat (WC) Cagla Buyukakcay (TUR) 6-7 6-3 6-2; Laura Siegemund (GER) beat (Q) Silvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) 6-7 6-4 7-6.
 
 
Today's Order of Play
Centre Court (11am)
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)  VS Monica Puig (PUR)
(WC) Shuai Peng (CHN)    VS Lesia Tsurenko (UKR)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)  VS Katerina Siniakova (CZE)       
Shuai Zhang (CHN) VS Ana Konjuh (CRO)
Not Before 7pm
Daria Kasatkina (RUS) VS (10) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Alison Riske (USA) VS CoCo Vandeweghe (11) (USA)
Court 1
12 noon
(17) Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) VS Catherine Bellis (USA)
Madison Brengle (USA)   VS Misaki Doi (JPN)
Lauren Davis (USA) VS Mandy Minella (LUX)
(13) Kiki Bertens (NED) VS Christina Mchale (USA)
Court 2
Raluca Olaru (ROU)/Olga Savchuk (UKR)   VS Nao Hibino (JPN)/Alicja Rosolska (POL)
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER)/Kveta Peschke (CZE)  VS Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA)/Mona Barthel (GER)
Court 3
12 noon
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) VS (Q) Elise Mertens (BEL)
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) VS    (Q) Aryna Sabalenka (BLR)
Chen Liang (CHN)/Zhaoxuan Yang (CHN)  VS (6) Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Shuai Peng (CHN)
Court 7
1pm
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) VS Andreja Klepac (SLO)/María José Martínez Sánchez (ESP)
Raquel Atawo (USA)/Yifan Xu (CHN)  VS    Viktorija Golubic (SUI)/Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)