Bertens wins semifinal at Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro

The defending champion of the Mutua Madrid Open showed her strengths to do it virtually on Thursday. The Dutch star dug in against Caroline Wozniacki and won 7-5 in a highly contested set of tennis. Bertens notched ten aces against the world number one that advanced her into the final against France’s Fiona Ferro.

The two best players of World Tennis Tour squared off in the second of two women’s semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro tournament. Caroline Wozniacki and Kiki Bertens never lost a match in round-robin play and coasted through their quarterfinal matches. With the opportunity to decide who the best gamer was between the two, the Eurostars dug in for a one-set match.

Bertens opened the match painting the lines and lighting up Wozniacki for the opening lead. A slight let up from the Dutch allowed the former world number one to get on the board. Bertens rallied back and kept the lead but her opponent stayed on her coattails through the next four games.   

After eight games it was four-all with Wozniacki putting down smash shots from the baseline for winners and aces. Bertens answered back in the ninth with a few of her own serves to take the 5-4 stand. Wozniacki refused to give up and force the set to go deep with the next game being critical to winning. Bertens ran smoothly in the 11^th to take the service game and used her angled shots to jump ahead on the 12^th.

In the end, it was Bertens in control as she reached match point comfortably to take the victory 7-5 and move into the final. “Caroline was hitting only winners so I knew I had to do something and then it was working and had to keep doing it,” she said during her match interview. “On the tennis court, I’m trying to find a way to win. It doesn’t matter how and today I did the same.”

Bertens would defend her actual title and become the first player to win both in real and virtual tournaments. “It’s gonna be tough,” Bertens said about her match with Ferro. “I played a few times with Fiona. Sometimes she was winning, sometimes I was winning so it’s gonna be really tough so let’s see and may the best one win.”

Bertens, Wozniacki advance to Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro semifinals

The Quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open was underway on Wednesday with the final eight playing a match with the best 6 out of 11 games being played with the winner going to Thursday’s semifinal and possible final. Kiki Bertens, Belinda Bencic, Johanna Konta, and Caroline Wozniacki were spotlighted on the day to determine who would move on in the virtual tournament.

The actual defending champion of the open took on the Swiss star who made it to the semifinal last year, nearly setting up for this final. Bertens opened service but went to deuce with Bencic who wasn’t able to defend well giving the Dutch the lead. Bencic got on the board in the second but Bertens was outplaying the 23-year-old to a shutout in the third. Bencic had a 40-0 lead in the fourth and held to stay in touch with her opponent.

It was a see-saw battle as Bencic stayed with Bertens through six games, but in the seventh, the edge returned to 28-year-old. Bertens fought for a chance to open the gap but Bencic fought after being forced to deuce. Defensive tactics allowed her to make it 4-all with two more needed for the win. The Dutch star held serve in the ninth and sat with three match points in the tenth scoring the win on a line drive shot to score on a sliced crosscourt winning 6-4.

The Dane looked for her fourth win in a row against the Brit and got off to a good start in the opening. Konta served but couldn’t deal with the aggression that Wozniacki brought to play. Scoring a shutout, she moved into the second game with three aces before a crosscourt made it 2-0 quickly. She clearly had the experience with a ten-point streak. A double fault set up the moment where Wozniacki let a point get away from her before making it 3-0.

The next two games went to the former world number one as she surged against Konta leading to the final game with the Brit on the verge of being bageled. With three match points in the sixth, Konta saved one with a brilliant cross-court return but it was all over on an ace. Wozniacki had seven aces in her advance to the semifinal and outscored Konta 24-4. The 29-year-old would await to see who she would face on Thursday and whether she could pick up the first title as a retiree.

WTA finishes round robin play in Mutua Madrid Virtual Pro

Day Two of the Mutua Madrid Open left some players with a final opportunity to make Wednesday’s quarterfinal or find themselves waiting for the next opportunity. The likes of Sorana Cirstea and Caroline Wozniacki were in reach of the 3-0 run in their groups with the round of eight already secured.

Belinda Bencic was one away from clinching a spot but had to go through Karolina Pliskova to do so. She took the first game but went to deuce with the Czech in the second. After two breaks and an ace, Pliskova managed to even up early. Crosscourt shots helped Bencic return to a lead after three but the current world number three leveled back at two-all.

Bencic launched three consecutive aces and took the game on a slice for 3-2. Mistakes from Bencic allowed a pivotal situation to determine a winner with a tiebreak. They opened with a long rally that ended with Bencic gaining the first point. After Pliskova tied, the Swiss star went on a three-point streak and added another to take a 5-1 stance. Achieving match point, Bencic scored a huge return at the wide end of the court completing the victory.  

In her second matchup with Fiona Ferro Bencic edged the French player with point errors on deuce. Ferro took the second game but found herself back in a gap with the Swiss ahead by the end of the third. It remained an even game as Ferro leveled after the fourth putting Bencic under pressure to improve. The 23-year-old got back out from at 3-2, but Ferro kept things tight and forced a tiebreak to determine the winner. Ferro forced Bencic to chase a shot before setting up the line drives that helped her win.

Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka both had losses under their belts making their meeting an important one. Svitolina drove herself to victory in the first game as the Belorussian had trouble moving. She got the problems figured out in the shape of a victory in the second game. The two opened the third with a 29-shot rally before Azarenka scored back to back aces. Cross courts gave the Belorussian a 2-1 lead over Svitolina before going on to put tremendous focus to take the win 3-1 in a quick improvement.

After two failed attempts to get a match in, Eugenie Bouchard had her chance against Angelique Kerber. They started with a long rally for the opening point which Kerber won. The German had the early lead but let it slip away at the hands of Bouchard. Kerber got on the board but the Canadian led the way after three hoping to cap her first win. Kerber responded in the fifth keeping close to Bouchard but her skills got her through five with the lead.

The former world number one dug in during amazing rallies that made it a three-all situation with the tiebreak left. Mistakes by the Canadian allowed Kerber to rally on free points and take the win away from Bouchard who was frustrated with her actions.

One who came through all her matches was Wozniacki who faced off for the final time in round-robin action against American Madison Keys. The Illinois native had trouble getting used to the game and went down against the Dane who never let up winning game after game. It came down to a simple shutout that gave the recent retiree her third consecutive win. With other matches being determined due to technical issues, the WTA will have eight players advancing into Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

Surprises, predictable outcomes at Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro tournament

Day One of action began with some of the biggest stars in tennis playing as themselves in the first Virtual Pro tournament sponsored by the Mutua Madrid Open. A total of 26 matches took place in the homes of actual players as they played World Tennis Tour using the Playstation 4 console. The game format was the best of five won in one set for the women with the winner gaining a point to accumulate throughout the round-robin. At times there were issues due to connectivity that extended the day for all participants.

Belinda Bencic and Carla Suarez Navarro were the first pair of women to kick things off for the WTA. Bencic took the first game in a fight to force deuce and found a line drive winner for the opening lead. The rallies were strong between the players going forward but at the end of the second game, Bencic took a 2-0 lead with a crosscourt. Suarez-Navarro was being worked hard in the match but found a way to strike back with aces in a must-win game. Bencic coasted to victory in the fourth to take the victory 3-1.

Johanna Konta took on Sorana Cirstea where the Romanian opened the court against the Brit to win the first game. She went on to coast to an easy week as she mentioned having played for a week to win a great match with a near shutout outscoring Konta 12-1 with nine winners. She took on Elina Svitolina later on with the Ukrainian taking the first game despite a double fault. She won game two going to deuce getting the best of Cirstea with deep crosscourt shots.

In an attempt to avoid being bageled, the Romanian fought to deuce playing a few breaks before gaining the victory. A big offensive push by Cirstea leveled the score at two-all with game three remaining tight between the players. The Romanian led 3-2 with a fourth needed to go 2-0 on the day. With match point in the fifth, Cirstea went on to defeat Svitolina with a shot that was blowing opponents away.

Sorana Cirstea speaking to commentators after her match

Caroline Wozniacki made her return to tennis in a virtual sense going against Kristina Mladenovic. The French star took the opening game but fell back 40-0 before getting into the second game. Wozniacki put together great control in the third for the lead, but in the fourth, Mladenovic leveled at two-all. Wozniacki pulled out another shutout after the fifth putting the French star under pressure. She battled to deuce where on match point, they got into a long rally until a crosscourt short gave her the win.

Victoria Azarenka (top) in virtual action against Johanna Konta (bottom)

In a second attempt to redeem her start in virtual tennis, the Brit took on Victoria Azarenka. The Belorussian took the opening lead playing well at the baseline sending Konta running for the returns. The 28-year-old managed to edge in the second to level at one-all. Azarenka led 2-1 but had low stamina going into the fourth. Konta used that and her movements on the court to even things at two each going into the fifth. Things were tight between the two as Konta surged to make this hers to win. The Brit took the penultimate 3-2 lead before playing in control in the sixth. A crosscourt winner gave her an end to her day edging Azarenka for the victory.

Caroline Wozniacki speaking after her second win on the day

 Wozniacki was back at it facing Bianca Andreescu winning the first game on a line error from the Canadian. The Dane painted the lines in the second game but Andreescu rallied to deuce. In the end, the former world number one took a 2-0 run in the match. Wozniacki went on to take the match using the forehand to come through her group clean.

Mutua Madrid Open prepares for first ever virtual tennis tournament

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As the current COVID-19 pandemic marches on, the organizers of the Mutua Madrid Open joined a small list of sports federations in giving fans of tennis something to be excited about. On Friday, 32 players (16 men, 16 women) were entered into a draw to be matched in what was the first-ever play at home virtual tennis tournament. From the likes of Rafael Nadal who has been supporting his country of Spain to US Open champion Bianca Andreescu who looked to return to action last month before tournaments began to cancel due to health restrictions.

Each player received a Playstation 4 with the ability to connect to the internet to play against their opponents in the best of three-set match playing World Tennis Tour. Organizers found ways of implementing their venue with the help of game engineers to make this event possible.

WTA supervisor Giulia Orlandi began the draw with four groups of four players each. In group one world number three ranked Karolina Pliskova led the way with Belinda Bencic, Fiona Ferro, and Carla Suarez Navarro. Group Two consisted of world number five Elina Svitolina playing alongside Johanna Konta, Victoria Azarenka, and Sorana Cirstea.

Group Three saw world number six Bianca Andreescu of Canada playing with Madison Keys, Kristina Mladenovic, and Caroline Wozniacki who retired after the Australian Open but chose to contribute her love of tennis to the event. Group four saw world number seven at the top with Angelique Kerber, Donna Vekic, and Eugenie Bouchard.

Tournament director Feliciano Lopez oversaw the draw for the men’s tournament which saw Group One take shape. World number two Rafael Nadal was linked with Gael Monfils, Denis Shapavalov, and Andy Murray who has struggled to return to after recent hip surgery. Group Two consisted of two-time Madrid Open finalist Dominic Thiem playing with Diego Schwartzman, John Isner, and David Ferrer.

Group Three had 2019 finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas competing virtually with Fabio Fognini, Kei Nishikori, and Frances Tiafoe. Group Four was led by Alexander Zverev David Goffin, Karen Khachanov, and Lucas Pouille. The tournament is set to begin Monday afternoon with the finals expected to be on Thursday. Like any match that takes place, there will be commentary, interviews with the players, and special guests such as ex-tennis players and well-known journalists of the sport.

While there would normally be prize money and points given out to improve individuals' current ranks, all 32 players have agreed to give 300,000 euros to players suffering economically from the effects of the virus. Tournament organizers have committed 50,000 euros to the Madrid Food Bank to help reduce the social impact of the pandemic.