On a day with plenty to attract Spanish tennis fans, the Caja Mágica saw numerous local stars take to the courts throughout the day. Mutua Madrid Open fans enjoyed a day of mixed fortunes for the home players, a sign of the difficulty of mastering the tournament’s clay from day one.

In a packed Arantxa Sánchez Vicario stadium that was rooting for her, Carla Suárez sealed one of the most exciting victories on Sunday in the Caja Mágica. The Gran Canarian came back in an electrifying encounter to beat Chinese player Peng Shuai 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 after two hours and five minutes of play.

“When you’re a set down and they come back in the second, you think the end is near”, said Carla. “Knowing that there is time to come back helped once again. I’m happy with the final result but not with the start”.

The Canary Islander is aware of the difficulty posed by her next match against the Danish Caroline Wozniacki, who she will meet on Monday in the last match in the Arantxa Sánchez Vicario Stadium. “If I start badly or give her the advantage, she will loosen up. She is very strong mentally, she never gives up. I will try to be as solid as possible, more aggressive than her, but above all, to be patient”, ended Carla.

Muguruza and Sorribes bow out
Despite the support in the Manolo Santana Stadium, Garbiñe Muguruza’s 2017 Mutua Madrid Open came to an abrupt end. The fifth seed was upset by the Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, losing 6-1, 6-3 in her opener.

“I expected more, but I never managed to play well” said Muguruza of her experience in Madrid. “I don’t really know why. I have been training hard but I feel sad. I didn’t play well, and the serve is important here. When I needed to rely on my serve I didn’t do it very well”.

For the player from Lausanne, it was her first victory against Muguruza, who has dominated their head-to-head (0-4). But the Swiss produced a solid performance in the Spanish capital to reach the second round. Bacsinszky broke the Spaniard’s serve as many as six times; being a local player turned out to be a double-edged sword.

Earlier, in one of the shortest matches of the day, Samantha Stosur needed just 59 minutes to see off Sara Sorribes Tormo in Stadium 3. The Australian, a semi-finalist at last year’s Mutua Madrid Open, was able to stamp her authority on the clay.