The first half of second-round action finished on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open and our Jimmie48 was again busy photographing matches from morning till evening, as well as a couple of practice sessions. Here are the highlights.
Ashleigh Barty hit nine aces and saved nine out of 11 break points to compensate for her unreliable serve today and survive Slovenian qualifier Tamara Zidansek, 6-4 1-6 6-3. This is a tour-leading 22nd victory of the season for the world No.1.
The Australian was wearing the Fila Tie Breaker High Neck Tank and Fila Tie Breaker 13.5″ Skirt, but what really drew attention was her monkey face mask.
Barty’s next match will be a blockbuster, as she faces fellow French Open champion Iga Swiatek for the first time. The two have won the last two editions of the Grand Slam in Paris: Barty was the 2019 champion and Swiatek triumphed in 2020 while Barty was absent because of the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions.
After eleven match points, seed No.14 Iga Swiatek advanced on Saturday with a 6-3 6-3 win over Laura Siegemund, her ninth consecutive win on clay.
Saturday’s second-round action featured a vintage battle of two former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber.
Three-time Madrid winner Kvitova was a break down in both sets, but Kerber failed to consolidate and the Czech dominated the ends of both sets to triumph 6-4 7-5.
This was 14th career meeting between Kvitova and Kerber. The Czech now leads their head-to-head 8-6, while they are tied at 3-3 on clay.
Ons Jabeur came back from a set down to overcame a mostly passive Sloane Stephens 4-6 6-1 6-3.
A collared dress and color burgundy look awesome on Stephens. Today she was wearing the Nike Summer Victory Polo Dress, in the shade officially called dark beetroot.
Defending champion Kiki Bertens was upset by Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 6-3.
Naomi Osaka was spotted practicing on Saturday. Tomorrow morning she faces Karolina Muchova in the second round.
Simona Halep also had a day off when it came to competition, as she awaits her second-round match against Zheng Saisai.
Our Jimmie48 will be on the courts the entire day tomorrow as well, so stay with us for more exclusive photo coverage from the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open.
