Karolina Pliskova, once the top-ranked player in women’s tennis, made her much-anticipated return to the court. She chose the WTA 125 event in Caldas da Rainha for her comeback. It marked her first competition in over a year. The long break was necessary to finally heal from a serious foot injury.
Her first match back was far from easy. The 32-year-old Czech battled hard and eventually secured her spot in the second round. She faced France’s Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, currently ranked 279th in the world. Andrianjafitrimo even served for the match, pushing Pliskova to her limits. However, the former Wimbledon and US Open finalist showed incredible grit, turning the match around to win 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. The grueling contest lasted two and a half hours. Next up, Pliskova will take on Russian Polina Iatcenko, ranked 267th. Iatcenko had a dominant first-round victory, defeating Matilde Jorge (world number 223) with a decisive 6-1, 6-1 score.
Another player in the main draw, Ana Filipa Santos, ranked 1464th, had a tough day. She managed to win only one game against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, who sits at 140th in the rankings. Santos lost her match 6-1, 6-0.