Mutua Madrid Open Day 1 & 2
Serena, Li Na Win Openers; Stosur Upsets Cibulkova; Nishikori, Dimitrov, Lopez Advance
wtatennis.com May 5 2014 Madrid – Having said she needed a break after losing her first match in Charleston - and saying she took that break at the WTA's All Access Hour a few days ago - Serena Williams looked completely refreshed and on her game in her first match at the Mutua Madrid Open, getting her title defense off to a flying start with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win over WTA rising star Belinda Bencic.
The No.1-seeded Williams, who is actually the two-time defending champion here, looked like she was in for a tougher day after a tricky start, but from 3-2 she went on maximum overdrive - she won nine of the next 10 games and for a while was barely losing points, at one point reeling off 21 in a row.
Williams closed out the 58-minute victory with her 11th ace of the match, her 30th overall winner of the match - to just 14 unforced errors. She has now won 13 straight matches at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Samantha Stosur pulled off the latest upset at the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday, taking out No.9 seed Dominika Cibulkova over on Court 5 as the first round wrapped up, 6-4, 6-0. Though she was the underdog in terms of ranking, Stosur has always thrived against Cibulkova - she won all three of their previous meetings in straight sets - and after an early 3-0 deficit she out-served, out-rallied and completely outplayed the Slovak, reeling off 12 of the next 13 games to prevail. From 4-all in the first set Stosur won eight games in a row to close it out in straights.
World No.2 Li Na was pushed but got past the always dangerous Kirsten Flipkens to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday.
Li was seemingly on the way to a routine win when she went up a set and 5-3. But Flipkens then won three straight games to seize the momentum and actually had two set points on Li's serve at 6-5. Li survived those, though, and got through a tie-break in which no player went up by more than one point until the last point, eventually sealing the 6-1, 7-6(7) triumph.
It was the first round match everyone was waiting for when the draw was made, and this time the established star was just too good for the rising star, as Agnieszka Radwanska fended off Eugenie Bouchard in a tight two-setter at the Premier Mandatory-level Mutua Madrid Open on Monday.
Everyone was watching as two of the most popular names in the game played for the first time. Things couldn't have been closer early on. The two battled for almost an hour in the first set alone - 56 minutes to be exact - before Radwanska finally tucked the set away, rallying from an early break down to take it in a tie-break. Once that was out of the way the floodgates opened, as the No.3-seeded Pole raced out to a 3-0, double break lead in the second set, eventually closing it out, 7-6(3), 6-2.
Up next for Radwanska is Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat Alizé Cornet, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. Kuznetsova could be an even tougher test for Radwanska, and there's one big reason for that - Kuznetsova leads Radwanska in their head-to-head, 10-3, and the Russian has also won their last six meetings in a row.
atpworldtour.com May 5 2014 Madrid - Spaniard Feliciano Lopez snapped a three-match losing streak on Monday, as he prevailed against Argentine Federico Delbonis 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2 in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open. He struck 18 aces and saved 13 of 14 break points faced to record victory in two hours and seven minutes.
Lopez next meets 15th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over German qualifier Benjamin Becker. Two other Spaniards, Fernando Verdasco and Albert Ramos, reached the second round with straight-sets wins Monday. Verdasco closed out a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory over Italian Andreas Seppi, while wild card Ramos defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-1, 7-6(7).
In a meeting between 22-year-old rising stars, No. 12 seed Grigor Dimitrov capitalised on four of his six break points to defeat Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 6-4 in 70 minutes. Carreno Busta was named the 2013 Most Improved Player of the Year. Dimitrov currently stands at a career-high No. 14 Emirates ATP Rankings after capturing his first clay-court title two weeks ago in Bucharest, and will look to extend his winning streak when he next plays Romanian wild card Marius Copil. The 23 year old knocked out Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4.
Roger Federer will open against Gilles Simon, who won the first two games when fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire retired from their first-round match due to knee pain.
Tenth seed Kei Nishikori needed 90 minutes to beat Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4 on Monday at the Mutua Madrid Open. World No. 12 Nishikori is attempting to become the first Japanese man to crack the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. He won his first clay-court title at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (d. Giraldo) eight days ago and will next challenge wild card Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the Madrid second round. Nishikori beat Roger Federer en route to last year’s quarter-finals (l. to Andujar).
Madrid Open Men's Singles First Round Monday May 5
12-Grigor Dimitrov beat Pablo Carreno 6-2 6-4
Santiago Giraldo beat Lleyton Hewitt 7-5 4-6 6-2
Fernando Verdasco beat Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-6(3)
Feliciano Lopez beat Federico Delbonis 7-6(4) 4-6 6-2
Fernando Verdasco beat Andreas Seppi 6-3 7-6(3)
Gilles Simon beat Benoit Paire 2-0 ret.
Albert Ramos beat Nicolas Mahut 6-1 7-6(7)
15-Mikhail Youzhny beat Benjamin Becker 6-3 6-4
Marinko Matosevic beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2 6-2
11-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3 4-6 6-3
9-John Isner beat Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6(8) 6-4
Dominic Thiem beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-2
10-Kei Nishikori beat Ivan Dodig 6-4 6-4
Marius Copil beat Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4
Jarkko Nieminen beat Robin Haase 6-3 6-2
Madrid Open Women's Singles First Round Sunday May 4
1-Serena Williams beat Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-1
8-Maria Sharapova beat Klara Koukalova 6-1 6-2
5-Petra Kvitova beat Sorana Cirstea 6-1 5-7 7-6(4)
Varvara Lepchenko beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4 4-6 6-4
16-Sloane Stephens beat Monica Niculescu 2-6 6-3 6-2
Zheng Jie beat Mariana Duque 7-6(5) 6-2
11-Ana Ivanovic beat Madison Keys 6-1 7-6(4)
Caroline Garcia beat 7-Angelique Kerber 6-3 2-0 ret.
Petra Cetkovska beat Stefanie Voegele 6-1 6-3
Peng Shuai beat Kurumi Nara 6-2 6-3
Roberta Vinci beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-4
Francesca Schiavone beat Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4
Maria Kirilenko beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 7-5
Lucie Safarova beat 12-Flavia Pennetta 1-6 6-0 6-3
Madrid Open Men's Singles First Round Sunday May 4
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat Pablo Andujar 6-2 2-6 6-2
Jeremy Chardy beat Lukas Rosol 4-6 6-3 6-4
Roberto Bautista beat 16-Tommy Robredo 6-4 6-4