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Madrid Monday: Azarenka At Altitude

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID Spain – With a manic Sunday of first rounds in the books, which players will step into the spotlight as the Mutua Madrid Open’s second round gets underway?

Monday, Second Round

[4] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #5) vs. Alizé Cornet (FRA #49)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads 4-0
Key Stat: Azarenka’s last three matches against Cornet have gone three sets.

Azarenka’s undefeated head-to-head against the enigmatic Alizé Cornet is decidedly deceptive, given that the Frenchwoman has had her chances in each of their last three encounters – none bigger than when they faced off on clay at the 2013 French Open.

“I dropped one or two games,” Cornet said after the match, adding, “but that’s enough for your head to go under the water.”

Ordinarily, the former World No.11 would be expected to tread water just fine against the two-time Australian Open champion, but while the Belarusian is playing some of her best tennis – winning her 15th straight match (including Fed Cup) in her first round on Sunday – Cornet is still trying to find her rhythm after a back injury threatened to derail her whole season. The veteran was struggling to put away 2015 French Open junior champion Paula Badosa Gibert when the young Spaniard was forced to retire due to cramps.

Azarenka is eager to prove her prowess on what has been one of her weaker surfaces – she has only reached the French Open semifinals once in her career, compared to two at each of the other three major tournaments. But Cornet loves a big stage – never forget her stunning win over Serena Williams at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships – and is among the few women to have had a day off on Sunday, having played her first round on Saturday.

[Q] Elena Vesnina (RUS #54) vs. [5] Petra Kvitova (CZE #6)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Vesnina is 4-1 against Top 20 opponents in 2016

Speaking of deceptive, the Q next to Elena Vesnina’s name belies her ability to take on (and take out) big name opposition this season. With the first three months already in the books, the Russian has nabbed wins over Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams, and Sara Errani at the Qatar Total Open, Miami Open, and Volvo Car Open, respectively. Her biggest success, however, came in Charleston where, again as a qualifier, the veteran reached the final for the second time in her career, dropping two games against No.2 seed Belinda Bencic and winning seven matches in a row before fading against Sloane Stephens in the championship match.

Somehow, Vesnina and Kvitova have managed to avoid one another thus far in their careers, but if early clay court form is any indication, this should be quite the spectacle on Court Manolo Santana. The two-time Wimbledon winner came into this year’s clay swing with renewed determination, which not only helped her reach the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix two weeks ago, but also easily dismiss Spanish clay courter Lara Arruabarrena on Sunday. Vesnina, too, had few issues in her opening round main draw match, dropping a second set bagel on teenager Jelena Ostapenko to win in under 90 minutes.

Vesnina’s most memorable clay court successes have come on the North American har-tru, but is a former French Open champion in doubles with Ekaterina Makarova, and the red clay at altitude should also serve her well on Monday.

Around the grounds: No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza will look to follow up her solid first round win with a second round victory over Irina-Camelia Begu, who narrowly edged past Eugenie Bouchard in three sets. No.13 seed Karolina Pliskova will open play on court Arantxa Sanchez against American Christina McHale, while Louisa Chirico will try to continue her unexpected run in Madrid against No.14 seed Ana Ivanovic. Barbora Strycova attempts to back up her upset over No.2 seed Angelique Kerber on Estadio 3 against Madison Keys, while No.16 seed Sloane Stephens takes on Patricia Maria Tig and No.12 seed Elina Svitolina faces off against former doubles partner Daria Gavrilova on Pista 4.

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Strycova Shocks Kerber In Madrid

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – Barbora Strycova had never won a set in her first five meetings against reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, but the Czech veteran turned the tables in a major way on Sunday, dispatching the World No.3, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

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Kerber last played Strycova in the second round of the Miami Open – a match she won, 6-1, 6-1 – but the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion had far more trouble on Estadio 3, dropping serve four times against Strycova, who maintained an impressive 80% on points won behind her first serve.

“Oh my god, it’s been so difficult,” Strycova said of her rivalry with the German. “I’d win four games in the matches we played before. I went into this match thinking I had nothing to lose. I mean, it can’t be worse than Miami!”

Strycova has had a solid year of her own, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open and the final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships; her win over Kerber was her second over a Top 3 player this season – having already upset Garbiñe Muguruza in Melbourne. Showing off her all-court game to its full effect, Strycova won nine of 12 points at net, and finished the one hour and nine minute match with 16 winners to 15 unforced errors; Kerber, by contrast, could only muster 13 winners to 22 unforced.

“I’m happy about my performance today. I stuck with the game my coach told me, and I was kind of in the zone and stable, which I’m happy about the most.

“We have similar games,” Strycova added when asked about the issues she’s had playing Kerber in the past. “She’s a very patient player with good defense. It’s tough to win a point against her because she puts every ball back. It’s difficult for me because I’m a smaller player and I have a similar game to her, so it’s difficult for me to be patient, because I’m not a patient person. That’s why it’s difficult for me to be patient on the court.

“But I tried to be patient today and it worked; that’s the way I have to be on court, and I’m practicing that.”

Awaiting Strycova in the second round is Madison Keys, who recovered from a disastrous start against qualifier Alison Riske to emerge victorious, 1-6. 6-3, 6-4.

Over on Court Manolo Santana, No.8 Carla Suárez Navarro delighted home fans with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over the fast-rising Timea Babos, who had just reached the semifinals of the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat last week. No.7 seed Roberta Vinci wasn’t able to pull off a similar comeback against Istanbul runner-up Danka Kovinic, losing, 6-4, 6-2. No.13 seed Karolina Pliskova had a far more straightforward result compared to her fellow seeds, taking out local wildcard Lourdes Domínguez Lino, 6-2, 6-1, while last year’s Rome semifinalist Daria Gavrilova bounded into the secound round with a 7-5, 6-4 win over lucky loser Heather Watson.

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Halep Flies Past Doi

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – 2014 Mutua Madrid Open finalist Simona Halep got her outdoor clay court campaign off to a flying start on Court Manolo Santana; opening the night session on Sunday, the Romanian eased past Japan’s Misaki Doi, 6-0, 6-3, to reach the second round.

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“It was a good match, a good start for me,” she said after the match. “The first set was fast; I had a good start because I was confident, and practicing very well the last few days here. In the second set, she started to hit faster, and I was hitting flatter than I was at the start of the match. That was good for her.

“I had to make it more of a clay court game, and that’s why I won.

Halep was suffering from the lingering effects of an ankle injury and breathing problems in a stunning loss to Laura Siegemund just two weeks ago in Stuttgart, but exhibited none of those health concerns in Madrid, racing through the first eight games of the match, hitting five aces and 19 winners in the match.

A dangerous floater, Misaki Doi came closest to preventing Angelique Kerber’s Australian Open run back in January – having held a match point on the German in their first round encounter – and leveled the second set by winning three games in a row after falling behind a break. Halep’s coach Darren Cahill took to the court to advise his charge, who brushed off the string of games to win the final four of the match to reach the second round.

Converting six of eight break point opportunities, Halep maintained an impressive 66% first serve percentage and won all four of her points at net.

Awaiting the former World No.2 in the second round will be Italy’s Karin Knapp. Knapp has spent much of the season dealing with a right knee injury, played some emphatic tennis to defeat rising Russian Margarita Gasparyan, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I have great memories from two years ago, so the game is ok here. It was a bit cold, but it’s always cold here in the evenings. It was ok, I was playing good and it was a good day for me.”

Sunshine Double winner and former No.1 Victoria Azarenka maintained an unbeaten streak that now stretches to 15 matches (including Fed Cup) with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Laura Robson. A former No.1 in Great Britain, Robson has been off the court for much of the last two and a half years, and had entered Madrid’s main draw with a protected ranking.

Nonetheless, she kept things close against the two-time Australian Open champion – particularly in the first set, where she maintained even footing until the crucial ninth game, in which the Belarusian broke serve to run away with the match. Azarenka’s next opponent will be Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet; though she trails 4-0 in their head-to-head, the last three matches have gone three sets.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix finalist Laura Siegemund had retired from her doubles match on Saturday citing dizziness, but pushed through another impressive singles result on Sunday, dispatching 2015 Madrid runner-up and No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3. A qualifier in Madrid, Siegemund is currently the No.4 German; should she hold onto that position, she is a likely candidate to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She will next play fellow qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who won a second straight match over Kristina Mladenovic, having narrowly taken out the young French star in a third set tie-break in Charleston. Mladenovic’s countrywoman and doubles partner Caroline Garcia reached the second round when Australian Open semifinalist Johanna Konta was forced to retire in the second set of their first round, citing an upper respiratory illness.

Earlier in the day, 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic captured a thrilling three-set win over qualifier Katerina Siniakova; the No.14 seed emerged victorious out of a titanic final game to win, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. No.11 seed and J&T Banka Prague Open champion Lucie Safarova enjoyed a seamless win over American CoCo Vandeweghe, while Romanian wildcard and former World No.21 Sorana Cirstea continued her charge back up the rankings with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic.

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Muguruza Shines Under Madrid Spotlight

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza closed out a decisive 6-2, 7-5 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, winning her first round match at the Mutua Madrid Open in just over 90 minutes on Court Manolo Santana.

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“Of course I was a little bit nervous and tense because the first matches are always complicated,” Muguruza told press after the match.

:In Madrid we have this extra pressure because I’m here at home. Perhaps you’re a little bit more nervous because of that. But my first feeling is that I’m satisfied for winning the match, fighting, as I fought a lot.”

Coming off of another successful Fed Cup outing and a run to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Muguruza is quite comfortable on clay – despite her breakout Wimbledon fortnight less than a year ago – and used that experience to take the ascendency on Schmiedlova, who has only won one WTA main draw match thus far in 2016.

Hitting 22 winners to the Slovak’s five, Muguruza closed off more than her fair share of points at the net, venturing forward 12 times and converting eight of those advances. Schmiedlova, by contrast, hit 28 unforced errors and seven double faults, though she pushed the former World No.3 to play her best tennis in the second set.

Still in her first full season as a top ranked player, the Spanish youngster admitted she is still navigating the waters of the big leagues, but feels she is acquitting herself well.

“I think it’s difficult. It’s something that requires you to play very well, not only tennistically talking, but in everything you do. You have to put everything in.

“I’m very happy to be up there and very fortunate to be there. I’m discovering how to handle it the best possible way. To feel more confident, comfortable.

“Right now I’m feeling well.”

Up next for the two-time French Open quarterfinalist is Irina-Camelia Begu, who outlasted Eugenie Bouchard, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 late on Sunday evening.

“Every time I go out there and play a game I’m very competitive and I want to win. It doesn’t matter if I defend points or not.”

Around the grounds, Daria Kasatkina fought valiantly through injury concerns and an inspired opponent in qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, but ultimately fell to the Romanian, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Sabine Lisicki made short work of another qualifier, Monica Puig, as the German emerged in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. On the bubble to qualify for the Rio Olympics, Lisicki saw herself get bumped from her country’s Top 4 when Laura Siegemund reached the final of Stuttgart two weeks ago, and will need to put together some solid results of her own to reassert her presence on the national team. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova set up a second round encounter with Camila Giorgi when she defeated Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-1 – Tsurenko herself was playing with a heavily strapped right thigh.

American qualifier Louisa Chirico turned heads with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Monica Niculescu; the Romanian veteran had pushed Petra Kvitova to the brink in Stuttgart, but Chirico had all the answers in the one hour, 35 minute match. Winning 70% of her first serve points and breaking serve six times, the 19-year-old New York native could next play 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic in the second round. Get to know the young American in a new interview from WTA Insider.

Volvo Car Open finalist and qualifier Elena Vesnina began her red clay campaign with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Jelena Ostapenko, who was hoping to build on her run to the semifinals of the Katowice Open after a runner-up finish in Doha. Vesnina will next play defending champion Kvitova, who eased past Lara Arruabarrena, 6-3, 6-2, in just over an hour. A two-time winner in Madrid, Kvitova reached the semifinals of Stuttgart continued looking comfortable on clay on Sunday, striking 29 winners to 27 unforced errors against the Spaniard, who pushed Angelique Kerber to a third set tie-break a few weeks ago in Charleston.

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Cibulkova Outlasts Radwanska

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

MADRID, Spain – Former Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova finally got the big win she was looking for in 2016, surviving a second set hiccup to unseat top seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Watch live action from Madrid this week on WTA Live powered by TennisTV!

Cibulkova has had the game’s best on the ropes in the early rounds throughout the season – holding match points against Radwanska at the BNP Paribas Open and leading Garbiñe Muguruza at the Miami Open – but the 2009 French Open semifinalist refused to relinquish this chance against the Pole in the final match of the day on Court Manolo Santana.

Battling the crafty World No.2 for two hours and 37 minutes, each woman hit 43 winners in a high-quality affair that saw stunning power from the Slovak to edge ahead by a set and a break and serve for a spot in the second round.

On her least favorite surface, Radwanska wouldn’t back down so easily and broke back to level the set, and though she would prove unable to serve out the set herself, she snuck away with the ensuing tie-break and took a 2-0 lead in the decider.

Poised for a third straight loss to a Top 4 player at a Premier Mandatory, Cibulkova dug deep to win six of the last seven games of the match, converting all four break point opportunities in the final set and clinching victory with a thudding forehand winner.

The former World No.10 is coming off a win at the Katowice Open – having already reached a final earlier in the year in Acapulco – and a deep run in Madrid could be crucial as she aims to get back into the seeded position at major tournaments. Standing between her and the third round is Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, who advanced earlier in the day when Johanna Konta was forced to retire with an upper respiratory illness.

Over on Court 6, Timea Bacsinszky completed an impressive turnaround from winning the GP SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Rabat 24 hours earlier to edge past 2014 French Open semifinalist Andrea Petkovic, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

“I was aware that I would have a low in my match,” Bacsinszky said of the understandable fatigue that caused her to fall behind 5-0 in the second set.

“I needed to adapt, know I’d have my chances, and just get into it. At the beginning, it was really going well for me. But after the the end of the first set, you could see I didn’t have the tension to be committed on important points. I was angry at myself, but thinking longterm, that it would be a long match. I tried to kick my butt in the beginning of the third, and the level went up.

“I didn’t want to be brilliant, just efficient.”

Also through late on Sunday was Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu; suffering from foot blisters in the second and third sets, Begu fought off a late charge from the Canadian youngster to survive the topsy turvy encounter, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

More to come…

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