Australia has lost its last singles competitor at the Australian Open, with Daria Gavrilova beaten in straight sets by fifth seed Karolina Pliskova on Monday night.
Gavrilova beat Britain’s Naomi Broady, Croatia’s Ana Konjuh and 12th seed Timea Bacsinszky on the way to the fourth round, but she could not find an answer to the power of Pliskova, who won 6-3, 6-3 in one hour 12 minutes.
The Czech player sent down 12 aces to Gavrilova’s four, and hit 27 winners to the Australian’s 14.
She broke Gavrilova in the opening game, and again in the fifth game to race out to a 4-1 lead.
Gavrilova hit back with a break in the eighth game, but could not hold out her opponent, who clinched the set with an unforced error from the Australian.
Gavrilova gave fans hope with a break of her own in the first game of the second set, but Pliskova quickly hit back, establishing a 4-1 lead – she eventually sealed victory with an ace.
Pliskova will now face unseeded Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat American Jennifer Brady in the fourth round earlier on Monday.
More to come.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
