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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic made a winning start to her defense of the Malaysian Open title by easing past Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Tuesday.
Pliskova's sister, Kristyna, also won, beating Timea Babos of Hungary 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4.
However, both Japanese seeds departed: No. 5 Kimiko Date-Krumm retired hurt after trailing 5-3 against Cagla Buyukakcay of Turkey, and No. 8 Ayumi Morita was knocked out by qualifier Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine 6-4, 6-2.
Other winners included No. 6-seeded Zarina Diyas from Kazakhstan, and No. 7 Donna Vekic of Croatia.
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