Second seed Caroline Wozniacki is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained in Charleston and her erratic performance led to a 6-2 6-3 loss to Alona Bondarenko in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. That’s not to underestimate the 25-ranked Bondarenko, who made winner after winner to score the biggest victory of her career.
The world No.2 Wozniacki started this claycourt season well, by defending her MPS Group Championships title and reaching the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, but the injury the Dane sustained there has, not surprisingly, affected her later results and she fell in the second round of Stuttgart, Rome and now Madrid.
However, Wozniacki keeps her hopes high for the upcoming claycourt Grand Slam: “I really think I am going to be okay for the French Open.”
Many other seeds were just as unlucky as Wozniacki in the second-round action at the Madrid Open. Sixth seed Elena Dementieva fell to Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6-1 3-6 7-5. It is Dulgheru’s second Top 10 win, and her first one came just last week against Dinara Safina. Patty Schnyder defeated ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 3-6 6-4 6-4, Anabel Medina Garrigues crushed seed No.12 Marion Bartoli 6-2 6-0, while Andrea Petkovic saved nine set points in the first set and then defeated No.14 seed Flavia Pennetta 7-6(3) 6-3.
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez is now in the limelight because of her spectacular victory in Rome last week, but eighth-seeded Samantha Stosur ended the Spaniard’s run by defeating her 7-6(2) 6-4. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)
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Caroline…