Karolina Pliskova underlined her status as one of the favourites for the Ladies singles’ title at Wimbledon by beating Caroline Wozniacki to win the Aegon International in Eastbourne.
The 25-year-old world No.3 broke once in each set to get the better of the Dane 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 21 minutes.
It is Pliskova’s ninth title, her first at Eastbourne and her second on grass after claiming the Nottingham trophy this time last year.
She also adds to her trophy haul in 2017 – the big server now has three titles this season after wins in Brisbane and Doha during the first half of the year.
The only real moment of danger for Pliskova came in the sixth game of the second set when she faced four break points, but once she’d survived that scare she quickly closed in on victory.
“I was trying to be aggressive on her serve and was just waiting for my chance,” said Pliskova. “Still was a little bit shaky at the end, the last two points, but I made it. I'm happy.”
Despite never having made it past the second round in SW19, Pliskova is joint favourite for the title alongside fellow-Czech Petra Kvitova.
Runs to the final of last year’s US Open and the semi-finals at Roland Garros should help her handle the expectations once she arrives in south-west London.
She starts against Russian Evgeniya Rodina on Tuesday and is happy she has an extra day to prepare for her first match of the fortnight.
This year it's better I play [at Wimbledon on] Tuesday, so definitely going to take advantage of that
“Still, it's grass [at Wimbledon], but I think it's a little bit different every tournament," she said.
“This year it's better I play Tuesday, so definitely going to take advantage from that and to prepare the best as I can for my first match.”
Despite the defeat, Wozniacki said she will head into her first-round meeting with Hungary’s Timea Babos at Wimbledon feeling good about her game.
“It's been great to get the feel, because especially on the grass, if you don't feel 100% comfortable, it can be pretty tricky,” said Wozniacki, who is the No.5 seed at The Championships.
“Hopefully that will mean that I can play well at Wimbledon next week.”
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