Kvitova ousts Pliskova in Berlin; Garcia tops Lisicki in serving duel

No.7 seed Petra Kvitova prevailed in a difficult first-round draw at the bett1open on Monday, ousting her fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-3, 6-4 and notching her first match-win in two months.

Kvitova won her 30th career singles title at the Miami Open in April, propelling her back inside the Top 10. However, she had failed to win a match since that point, withdrawing from Rome due to a foot injury and losing her opening matches at Madrid and Roland Garros.

Back on the grass, two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova regained her winning ways by overcoming former World No.1 Pliskova in a 1-hour and 15-minute duel between Top 20 players. Kvitova now holds a 4-2 lead in their head-to-head.

The Czechs had an equal number of unforced errors in the match, but World No.9 Kvitova fired 26 winners to Pliskova's 19 and finished on top. Kvitova also won 68 percent of points returning the Pliskova second service.

World No.18 Pliskova remains in the midst of her own losing streak, having been defeated in her last four matches. Her most recent victory came over Donna Vekic at Stuttgart in April.

Vekic, as it turns out, was another first-round winner on Monday in Berlin, where she defeated Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 6-2. Vekic converted half of her 10 break points en route to the 1-hour and 27-minute victory.

Garcia stops Lisicki in ace bonanza: In the last match of the day, No.3 seed Caroline Garcia of France edged past German wild card Sabine Lisicki 7-6(2), 6-3 in a big-serving affair. Garcia moves ahead 3-1 in their head-to-head with the 90-minute win.

World No.4 Garcia and former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki hit 15 aces apiece in the match. This is the first time both players in a single match have served 15 or more aces since Karolina Pliskova's win over Naomi Osaka in the 2020 Brisbane semifinals.

The 30 combined aces ties for the second-highest total in a match this year, surpassed only by Veronika Kudermetova's first-round win over Victoria Azarenka at the Adelaide International 2. In that three-set match, Kudermetova hit 20 aces and Azarenka added 11 for a total of 31 aces.

Highlights: Garcia bests Lisicki in power duel

In Monday's showdown, there were zero service breaks in the first set, but a bevy of winners off of both wings gave Garcia a commanding 6-0 lead in the tiebreak. Garcia held on from there to collect the first set.

At 3-3 in the second set, Garcia finally earned the first service break of the day, converting her fourth break point of that game with a forehand return winner. The Frenchwoman cruised home after that, closing out the win with one more break for good measure.