Pliskova makes the trip to Dubai and reaches 2nd round

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Playing on her fourth continent in the last four weeks, Karolina Pliskova advanced to the second round at the Dubai Tennis Championships by beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-4 Monday.

The 17th-seeded Pliskova reached the third round at the Australian Open, then went to Canada to play for the Czech Republic in the Fed Cup. After that, she reached the semifinals at a tournament in Belgium and then traveled to Dubai.

''In the second set I had a break, and then I was feeling I'm sleeping a little bit,'' Pliskova said. ''But then I (came) back and I'm happy that I didn't go (to) the third set.''

Also, 11th-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 6-1, 6-4 and 16th-seeded Peng Shuai of China defeated lucky loser Elena Vesnina of Russia 7-5, 6-1.

CoCo Vandewegh was trailing Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 3-1 when the American retired from the match with a shoulder injury.