This Tuesday saw the Mutua Madrid Open kick off with the women’s qualifiers, and it did not disappoint. At the end of the first day’s competition there are still 24 players in the hunt for one of the dozen places remaining the main draw of the WTA 1000 competition on the clay of the Spanish capital.
The day’s play provided a reminder of the strength in depth of the players that have come to try their luck in the Caja Mágica. Two of the top three seeds were sent packing, while well-known players such as Andrea Petkovic and Kristina Mladenovic advanced. The home favourites were less fortunate as Jessica Bouzas, Carlota Martínez and Cristina Bucsa all bowed out.
On her tenth appearance in Madrid, Petkovic, moved to within one victory of the main draw by beating the Japanese Misaki Doi (6-4, 6-2). The German player is the ninth seed in the qualifiers and only needed one hour and 16 minutes on court to get through her opener.
For her part, Frenchwoman Mladenovic had to work hard for a win over the seventh seed. The 2016 doubles champion and 2017 singles finalist at the MMOPEN required over two hours and five set points in the first set to get past Egyptian player Mayar Sherif (7-6 (7), 7-5).
Match results (Q1) | Day 1⃣
?? Schmieldova v ?? Bouzas 64 61
?? Bonda v ?? Eala 60 60
?? Dodin v ?? Udvardy 62 46 64
?? Haddad Maia v Andreeva 63 63
?? Linette v ?? Braindl 63 75
?? Minnen v ?? Paquet 75 63
?? Begu v ?? Gorgodze 62 64@WTA | @WTA_Espanol | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/frC72DlrLl— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) April 26, 2022
First seed Ekaterina Alexandrova delivered on expectations to progress to the next round by seeing off German player Tamara Korpatsch (6-4, 6-4). The upsets were produced by Danka Kovinic and Dayana Yastremska. The Montenegrin dispatched second seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich (6-4, 6-2), while the Ukrainian did the same to Madison Brengle (3) coming back from a set down (2-6, 6-2, 6-4).
No Spaniards
The three home players to receive invitations from the organisation failed to get through their openers. The first to take to the Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario Stadium was 19-year-old Galician Jessica Bouzas. The quarter-finalist in the 2017 Under-16 MMOPEN was unable to better her result from last year’s qualifiers, losing to the Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (6-4 6-1).
Carlota Martínez did manage to ask questions of Lucia Bronzetti. The 21-year-old Aragon native, in her second MMOPEN qualifying appearance since 2018 enjoyed three set points in the first set against the Italian, but failed to convert any of them and eventually lost (7-6 (8) 6-0).
Finally, Cristina Bucsa bowed out to Martina Trevisan. The player of Moldovan origins who was trained in Cantabria, currently the WTA world No. 131, was unable to cope with her transalpine opponent, the world No. 81, and said goodbye to the Caja Mágica after two sets (6-1, 6-3).
Results Day 1
(1) E. Aleksandrova d. T. Korpatsch 6-4 6-4
(20) C. Burel d. D. Parry 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-4
D. Kovinic d. (2) A. Sasnovich 6-4 6-2
(13) M. Bouzkova d. (WC) F. Ferro 6-2 6-2
D. Yastremska d. (3) M. Brengle 2-6 6-2 6-4
H. Tan d. (24) L. Davis 6-4 1-6 7-6 (5)
(4) K. Kanepi d. H. Dart 6-1 6-1
(17) M. Trevisan d. (WC) C. Bucsa 6-1 6-3
(5) M. Linette d. K. Baindl 6-3 7-5
(23) A. Schmiedlova d. (WC) J. Bouzas 6-4 6-1
(6) P. Martic d. D. Galfi 2-6 6-4 7-6
(16) L. Bronzetti d.(WC) C. Martínez 7-6 (8) 6-0
K. Mladenovic d. (7) M. Sherif 7-6 (7) 7-5
(14) A. Potapova d. D. Saville 4-6 6-3 7-5
(8) I. Begu d. E. Gorgodze 6-2 6-4
K. Rakhimova d. (22) M. Frech 6-1 6-4
(9) A. Petkovic d. M. Doi 6-4 6-2
(18) K. Juvan d. Q. Wang 4-6 6-4 6-2
(10) B. Haddad Maia d. (WC) E. Andreeva 6-2 6-3
O. Dodin v (19) P. Udvardy 6-2 4-6 6-4
(11) A. Bondar d. (WC) A. Eala 6-0 6-0
(15) G. Minnen d. C. Paquet 7-5 6-3
(12) V. Gracheva d. M. Inglis 6-3 6-2
H. Watson d. (21) K. Kucova 6-4 6-0
