Tennis-Pliskova cruises into Australian Open third round

Second seed Karolina Pliskova breezed through to the third round of the Australian Open, dispatching Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-3 on Thursday. Siegemund, who had won their only previous meeting in 2017, at times challenged Pliskova with her variety and skills at the net but ultimately could not match the Czech's power from the baseline.

Pliskova was down 1-3 in the first set but never looked in danger of losing, immediately breaking the 72nd-ranked Siegemund in the next game to get back on serve. The Czech clinched the victory in an hour and 26 minutes and will next face either Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova or American Taylor Townsend.