体坛英语新闻：Pliskova, Svitolina earn delayed victories into last 16 at Roland Garros

PARIS, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Women's No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova and No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina secured their "delayed" victories to move into last 16 at the 2017 French Open here on Sunday.

The two players' matches scheduled on Saturday were put off until Sunday due to rain late in the afternoon. Pliskova converted 6 of 8 break points in a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Carina Witthoeft, with winning percentage on first and second serve bettering that of her German opponent, also finishing a total of 34 winners.

After securing her first appearance in last 16 at Roland Garros, Pliskova, placed third on WTA world rankings, still felt that she was not at her best level.

"I don't think that I'm playing the best tennis. It's good, and I can still improve," Pliskova said.

"The second set was the best so far that I played in this tournament. But still there are some things that I want to improve and play better," she added.

Svitolina needed one hour and 28 minutes to seal her 6-4, 7-5 win against Magda Linette of Poland.

The 11th-seeded Caroline Wozniacki overcame the No. 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in a highly-anticipated round of 16 clash.

"I knew it was going to be a tough match going in. My game plan was working and kind of kept her on her toes with putting in some dropshots and mixing up the pace," said Wozniacki.

"Caroline was defending very good today and playing very deep, close to the lines. I felt like I lost my chances," commented Kuznetsova, who eliminated China's Zhang Shuai in the third round.