Eastbourne International victory strengthens Karolina Pliskova's Wimbledon favourite tag

Eastbourne: Third seed Karolina Pliskova defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday at the Eastbourne Inernational to underline her status as a Wimbledon title contender. [caption id=“attachment_3766011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Karolina Pliskova kisses the Eastbourne International trophy after defeating Caroline Wozniacki in the final. AP[/caption] The Czech secured her third title of the season after breaking Wozniacki once in both sets, leaving the Dane still searching for a first trophy since her win in Hong Kong last October. Pliskova needed 90 minutes to win the trophy and become the first top-10 player to win the event since former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli in 2011. The World No 3 was clinical in going one better than when she lost to Dominika Cibulkova in last year’s final, becoming the first Czech to win the Eastbourne title since Jana Novotna in 1998. The 25-year-old fired ten aces in an impressive serving display, as Wozniacki was unsuccessful on four break-point chances. Pliskova will go into Wimbledon as one of the favourites for the title, having also reached the French Open semi-finals at Roland Garros last month. Former World No 1 Novak Djokovic faces French second seed Gael Monfils later on Saturday for the men’s title on the English south coast.