Australian Open: Karolina Pliskova through to second round

World number two Karolina Pliskova raced through the first set before having to work hard in the second as she beat Kristina Mladenovic to reach the Australian Open second round.

The Czech took the opener in just 25 minutes on her way to a 6-1 7-5 win.

It was a tricky draw for the second seed, with Mladenovic a former top-10 player who helped France win the Fed Cup in November.

Pliskova is unbeaten in 2020, winning the Brisbane International this month.

“We had some good matches in the past and it was tough mentally in the second set,” said Pliskova, who had shared a 2-2 record against Mladenovic before this match.

In the next round, the 27-year-old will play German world number 72 Laura Siegemund or American wild card Coco Vandeweghe, who is a former world number nine.

There are 96 singles matches taking place at Melbourne Park on Tuesday after rain disrupted the opening day’s play.

Pliskova, chasing a first Grand Slam title, is joined in the second round by Swiss sixth seed Belinda Bencic and Greek 22nd seed Maria Sakkari, but British 12th seed Johanna Konta was knocked out.

Britain’s Harriet Dart, Katie Boulter and Heather Watson are among the women in action, with Wimbledon champion Simona Halep and five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova also playing.

You can follow coverage of day two from Melbourne Park on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra’s Tennis Breakfast show at 07:00 GMT, as well as live text commentary on selected matches.