Australian Open 2019: Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova through to second round with win over Karolina Muchova

Melbourne: Seventh seed Karolina Pliskova brushed aside fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-2 to reach the Australian Open second round on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_5896641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Karolina Pliskova celebrates after defeating Karolina Muchova in the first round of the Australian Open. AP/Aaron Favila[/caption] The 26-year-old made short work of her compatriot, dispatching her in 69 minutes. “It’s a good start, I’m happy I didn’t have to spend too much time on the court,” she said. “I don’t know why but I always play good tennis here (in Australia).” Pliskova has made the quarter-finals in her last two appearances at Melbourne Park and entered this year’s tournament on a high after winning the Brisbane International warm-up. She has been a regular in the second week of Grand Slams in recent years, reaching the quarters or better six times since late 2016, but is still searching for a breakthrough win.