DUBAI, UAE – The first day of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships brought the first upset as CoCo Vandeweghe knocked out last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.

Watch live action from Dubai & Rio de Janeiro this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Unsurprisingly, given both players’ fearsome serves, break opportunities were few and far between in the opening set. However, once Vandeweghe had pinched that, it was one-way traffic, as she sailed through, 7-6(5), 6-1.

“Taking care of my service games was my main focus. And then in the tie-breaker, I mean, every point matters,” Vandeweghe said. “So when I had my opportunity, I was going to take it. Sometimes I messed up and other times I was successful. But I wasn’t going to allow her to dictate me in the tie-breaker. So that’s what I was thinking going in.”

The tie-break’s decisive crucial moment came when Vandeweghe turned defense to attack with a rifled backhand that brought up two set points. The No.6 seed managed to fend off the first, but could not complete the escape, pushing a backhand long on the following point. 

“Then the second set, getting that early break was really key. Then, you know, from there I just kind of went into a rhythm and continued to steamroll,” Vandeweghe added.

One former runner-up that did make it safely into the second round was Julia Goerges, who enjoyed an easier-than-expected outing against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Goerges, a finalist back in 2012, needed only 57 minutes to knock out the No.8 seed, 6-1, 6-0, and set up a meeting with either Barbora Strycova or Tsvetana Pironkova.

“A very solid performance but at the same time being aggressive and didn’t make that many mistakes,” Goerges said. “Well, I just didn’t give her any chance to get into the match and get into her rhythm, because if she has time she creates good balls and deep balls, and that’s what I tried to take away from her. That worked pretty well today.

“That’s what you’re working for, to play as consistent as possible and why you train every day, and it’s very satisfying to see the performance like this today.”

Also advancing on the opening day was Goerges’ fellow German, Andrea Petkovic. In four previous visits to Dubai, Petkovic has won just two main draw matches, but looked full of confidence in her opening outing this time, brushing aside the mercurial Camila Giorgi, 6-2, 6-1.