Pliskova serves up a charity bonus

MELBOURNE: Brief stories from the second day of the Australian Open on Tuesday:

- Pliskova’s ace gesture: Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova served more aces on tour then any woman last season and if she continues the trend in Melbourne it will be great news for charity.

The Czech rose to number one last year on the back of her blistering serve, powering down 452 service winners in 68 matches.And Pliskova said Tuesday before her opening match she would donate US$100 of her prize money to benefit sick children for every ace she serves at the year’s first Grand Slam.

“I’ve decided to contribute to a good cause. During the Australian Open I will donate through my endowment fund US$100 for each ace to help children with oncological diseases. Keep your fingers crossed for me!” the sixth seed tweeted.

Her 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory over Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg on Tuesday will see her writing a cheque for $700 already — she served seven aces.

- Ostapenko stamps her mark: Jelena Ostapenko has become such a big name in her Latvian homeland since winning the French Open last year that she has a stamp with her image on it — and 55,000 were shifted in a single day.

“It was very, very impressive because not many athletes in Latvia get a stamp,” said the Riga-born 20-year-old.

“When they told me, I was very, very happy, because I think it’s a big thing if they make a stamp. Especially they made 55,000 stamps and they were sold out on the first day.”

Ostapenko is now hoping to stamp her mark on Australian Open, where she is safely into the second round.

- Dasha has a wee tantrum: Australia’s 23rd seed Daria Gavrilova got a bit flustered during her first round win late on Monday when she saw her dad and other members of her backroom entourage deserting her player’s box.

Turned out they were just answering a call of nature, but their inconvenient dash didn’t impress the woman nicknamed Dasha herself.

“They had to go to the toilet. It distracted me,” said Gavrilova, whose head suddenly filled with conspiracy-like theories. “I was like, Is someone sick? Did someone have to get out of the stadium because of something? I just create really weird stories in my head. “If they had to go, they had to go. I just think of the worst things.”