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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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