Following yesterday’s extremely busy lineup of matches in Madrid, Monday turned out to be a quieter day inside the Caja Magica, with only eight second-round matches originally scheduled to be played.
Eight unfortunately turned into seven, since Andrea Petkovic had to withdraw from her second-round encounter against Irina-Camelia Begu due to illness, earning the Romanian a free ticket into the tournament’s third round.
Other players had to work for their way into the round of the last sixteen, including Agnieszka Radwanska and Caroline Wozniacki, both of whom won their second-round matches in straight sets.
Lucie Safarova has made the next round as well, following up her straight-set win over Tsvetana Pironkova with a successful doubles match with partner Bethanie Mattek sends just two hours later.
Speaking of two hours, that was the duration of the most entertaining match of the day, when Alize Cornet took on Roberta Vinci. Cornet had upset 2014 Madrid finalist Simona Halep on Sunday, but clay specialist Vinci proved to be a much tougher nut to crack and the Italian prevailed in what was a quite emotional and dramatic two-set match.
Expectedly, Serena Williams didn’t spent quite as much time on court. Her second-round match against fellow American Sloane Stephens was in the books after just 58 minutes as the world #1 advanced to the round of the last sixteen.
Unfortunately, the day also had some disappointment in store for the local fans. Spaniard Garbine Muguruza fell to Svetlana Kuznetsova in what was a rollercoaster-ride of a three-set match.
The remaining second-round matches are due to be played on Tuesday, including the second appearances of crowd favorites Maria Sharapova & Ana Ivanovic, with Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova & Victoria Azarenka in action inside Caja Magica as well!
Amazing shots on Garbi! Too bad she lost to Sveta but I think she played well. The pressure of the crowd also adds to her burden.