WTA Prague Open: Karolina Pliskova goes through

Defending champion Karolina Pliskova wasted little time in booking her spot in round two of the WTA Prague Open, while Svetlana Kuznetsova needed three sets to get past Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

World number 18 Pliskova defeated Czech compatriot Lucie Hradecka in three sets to win her home tournament 12 months ago.

And the 24-year-old was in sparkling form again on home soil, as Stefanie Voegele was seen off 6-1 6-3 in under and hour on Tuesday.

Top seed Kuznetsova recovered from a faltering second-set display to beat Sasnovich 6-0 5-7 6-1.

However, it was a tricky opening for two-time champion Lucie Safarova, the second seed coming from behind to defeat Mariana Duque-Marino 3-6 6-3 6-3.

It was a simpler progression for Hradecka - looking to go one better than last year - as she overcame fellow Czech Andrea Hlavackova 6-4 6-1.

There was no such luck for Dominika Cibulkova and Yanina Wickmayer, the seventh and eighth seeds respectively, as the former was dumped out 6-2 6-2 by lucky loser Barbora Krejcikova, while the latter lost 4-6 6-1 6-2 to Camila Giorgi.

In other matches, Marketa Vondrousova and Monica Puig picked up straight-sets wins over Oceane Dodin and Tereza Smitkova, while Virginie Razzano beat fellow qualifier Vania King in three.

Rounding off the action, Barbora Strycova overcame Olga Govortsova 6-3 7-5, while Sam Stosur came from behind to defeat Sorana Cirstea 3-6 6-4 6-2.