Croatia's Petra Martic and top seed Karolina Pliskova marched into the final of the inaugural Zhengzhou Open with commanding straight sets victories on Saturday. Seventh seed Martic dispatched Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 6-3 in 67 minutes to reach her first Premier showpiece, sealing victory with her third ace of the match. Mladenovic had a mounting error count and six double faults while Martic, who faced only one break point, broke her unseeded opponent four times, helping her win seven games in a row. Czech Pliskova dominated her semi-final as she beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2 in 68 minutes. It was her third victory of the year over the Australian after wins in Brisbane and Rome. World No. 2 Pliskova won 93 percent of her first serve points, and broke four times en route to her fifth final of the season. Despite three consecutive double faults in the second set, her superior counter-punching was also on display as she hit 28 winners, while Tomljanovic made 13 unforced errors. Pliskova will seek her first title in China on Sunday after finishing as runner-up in Zhuhai in 2015 and Tianjin last year. — Reuters
