Main-draw play started this Thursday at the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open with a busy first-round schedule. Our photographer Jimmie48 made it to a lot of matches and he also attended many practice sessions.
Defending champion Kiki Bertens recorded her first Tour-level win of the season by defeating world No.901 Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra 6-4 6-0.
Fifteen-year-old Kasintseva was making her WTA main-draw debut this week as the youngest player in the draw.
Angelique Kerber booked her place in the second round with a 7-6(5) 6-1 victory over Marketa Vondrousova.
Seed No.14 Iga Swiatek beat Alison Riske 6-1 6-1 to record her 16th straight set win on clay on her Madrid debut.
Sloane Stephens advanced to the second round after taking out lucky loser Danka Kovinic 6-4 6-1. Kovinic entered the main draw when Garbine Muguruza withdrew because she hasn’t fully recovered from her injury sustained in Charleston.
Eighth seed Belinda Bencic got past Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-2.
Elena Vesnina played her first singles match in nearly three years. The Russian fell to compatriot Veronika Kudermetova 6-1 6-4.
Laura Siegemund defeated Kateryna Kozlova 6-4 6-2. The German rocked the Fila Tie Breaker Tie Dye Tank and matching colorful Axilus 2 Energized shoes with a classic white skirt and white knee-high socks.
Naomi Osaka, Simona Halep, Aryna Sabalenka, Anett Kontaveit, Daria Kasatkina, Jelena Ostapenko and Amanda Anisimova were all on the court practicing this Thursday.
Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for more exclusive photos from the Mutua Madrid Open.
Kasatkina is currently not sponsored by Nike but she’s still wearing Nike. How is that happen? Kind of confusing this sponsor thing. At least for me. Haha.
Alip Apai, Kasatkina is wearing her Nike leftovers. She explained details about her Nike contract and her current apparel situation in a recent interview I shared here: https://womenstennisblog.com/2021/04/20/daria-kasatkina-opens-up-about-being-bisexual/