Top half quarterfinal pairs are set at the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open: Ashleigh Barty vs. Petra Kvitova and Paula Badosa vs. Belinda Bencic.
In a clash of two most recent Roland Garros champions, top seed Ashleigh Barty beat seed No.14 Iga Swiatek 7-5 6-4 to win her 14th match in a row on red clay and end her opponent’s 9-0 winning streak on the surface.
![](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Ashleigh_Barty_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_3475_original.jpg)
Barty recovered from 3-0 down in the first set and edged it as Swiatek hit three double faults at 5-5. After that initial deficit, the 2019 French Open champion never dropped serve.
![Iga Swiatek of Poland](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Iga_Swiatek_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_3522_original.jpg)
In the post-match interview, the Australian explained that she needed some time to adapt to Swiatek’s game:
I think it took me some time to get used to Iga’s weight of shot. Obviously, we had a game plan going into it, but I had to adjust that and had to kind of learn on the fly a little bit.
![Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Petra_Kvitova_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_2658_original.jpg)
In the first third-round match on Monday, ninth seed and three-time champion Petra Kvitova got past Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 4-6 6-4 for her 32nd match win in Madrid and reach the quarterfinals at the tournament for the sixth time in her career.
![Veronika Kudermetova of Russia](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Veronika_Kudermetova_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_2729_original.jpg)
Eighth seed Belinda Bencic moved into the quarterfinals when Ons Jabeur retired due to a right thigh injury at 7-6(2) 4-3. The Tunisian later tweeted that she hopes she will be back in time for Rome.
![Belinda Bencic of Switzerland & Ons Jabeur of Tunisia](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Belinda_Bencic_Ons_Jabeur_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_2900_original.jpg)
![Belinda Bencic of Switzerland](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Belinda_Bencic_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-Z66_5477_original.jpg)
Supported by her home crowd, Paula Badosa became the first wildcard to reach the Madrid Open quarterfinals since 2017 with a 6-7 7-6(3) 6-0 win over Anastasija Sevastova.
![Paula Badosa of Spain](https://womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Paula_Badosa_-_2021_Mutua_Madrid_Open_Day_5_-DSC_3309_original.jpg)
Tuesday’s schedule will feature third-round matches in the bottom round of the draw. Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for more photos by Jimmie48 from Madrid.