Day two at the Mutua Madrid Open saw some close exits from the best while others managed to coast to victory at Caja Mágica Sunday. World number one Angelique Kerber had an easy outing while wild card Maria Sharapova avoided an early exit in her opening round match. Reigning Olympic Gold medalist Monica Puig had a tough battle against Lauren Davis but couldn’t hold it together in a tight third set.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina was another one to lose in the opening as fatigue might have gotten the best of her against Saisai Zheng. The Chinese star took it to the recent Istanbul tournament winner sending things to three sets after winning a tough second set that went to a critical tiebreak. She opened up a 5-2 hold in the third before capping the upset after 2 hours and 39 minutes. The returns for Svitolina were her ultimate downfall while Zheng ended the day with a high 84 percent on the first serve.
Another star that struggled was Caroline Wozniacki who found things difficult against Romania’s Monica Niculescu on Arantxa Sanchez Vicario court. She took the Dane to extra frames in the opening set but faltered in the 11th. Niculescu struck back and brought her best to win the tiebreaker in the second. Her actions to stay level with Wozniacki led to another fight to the finish in the third set but ultimately the Dane was able to get away from her Romanian opponent to win the third 6-4.
The world number one came into Madrid ready to get deep into the tournament and managed to take care of business against Timea Babos on Manolo Santana. She held back the Hungarian in a challenging first set but took care of her offense in the second allowing Babos two wins in the second taking just 80 minutes.
Sharapova was the big name back in action since her return at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix two weeks ago. Though she didn’t win the title for a fourth time, her ability to gain a wild card spot upset some of her peers but she knew that it wouldn’t be easy. It wasn’t as Marjana Lucic-Baroni took point and won the first set 6-4, bringing a concern to many Sharapova fans.
She turned things around in the second winning it 6-4 before her second three setter so far would be the most important. In a show of power, the former number one went on a runaway getting the bagel against the Croatian. The statement she made had her second round match against Eugenie Bouchard become very interesting due to the current comments made by the Canadian.
Puig didn’t have much attention to herself going into the WTA premier event but had many eyeing the battle she had against the American. She found herself in trouble after going down 3-6, but rallied to force a critical third set. It was a fight to the finish as the Puerto Rican had a consistent problem with her second serve that she had to stay strong on the remainder of her game. It led to the two sticking to one another through the deciding set ending in a tiebreaker that had a turn in favor of Davis.
After a three all tie, the American ran away winning the final four points to end a 2 hour and 48 minute fight. She’ll go on to meet Stuttgart finalist Kristina Mladenovic who has been on a tear in tournaments.
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