The first round of main draw in WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open is done, after a really busy Wednesday, when 24 matches were played to complete the line-up of the opponents for the seeded players who start their Madrid's campaign tomorrow after getting bye for the opening round.
Apart from the quantity of matches, there were also some unexpected results to follow, as 11 matches ended up with the advance of players who were rated lower in the pre-match odds. Despite seeds come into action tomorrow, there were also some recognized names, who the fans could cheer for today in Madrid.
The day started with a notable upset, as the 15 years-old Mirra Andreeva, currently ranked 194th in the WTA rankings, eliminated the well-known player from the top 50 and US Open 2021 runner-up, Leylah Fernandez. The Russian youngster who was granted with a wild card to the main draw here in Madrid, capitalized her chance to appear on the big stage flawlessly, defeating her famous rival in straight sets, 6-3 6-4. Andreeva will play her second round's match against Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Despite the early exit of Fernandez, the Canadian fans have definitely something to cheer on, as Eugenie Bouchard is seemingly coming back to a good form. The former Grand Slam semifinalist appeared in the main draw of WTA level tournament for the first time since October last year, when she got a wild card into WTA 1000 event in Guadalajara. The Canadian struggles with health issues for many years, as she has ended up the whole season as a WTA top 100 member in the year 2018. This time, Bouchard did not need a wild card into main draw, as she managed to overcome the qualies, defeating decent names like Sara Sorribes Tormo and Elizabeth Mandlik. Dayana Yastremska was her first round opponent in one of the most interesting Wednesday's matchup between well known names, who are not the main contenders for a big things in WTA circuit right know. Despite it, the match did not disappoint, especially in terms of Bouchard's performance, who came back form being down a set and advanced into second round with a score 6-7(6) 6-2 6-2. The Canadian was a better player today and could even win in straight sets, as she was leading 3-0 with a single break advantage just after the start, but did not manage to convert her good start into taking the opening set in the bag. Bouchard dominated in second set. but was 0-2 down in the opening one after the early break from Yastremska. The current world's number 285 responded really well for that, winning 6 games in a row and clinching her biggest victory since a long time. Martina Trevisan will be the next opponent for Canadian.
That was a good day for the players who are trying to bounce back after their perpetual health issues. Anastasia Pavluychenkova, the former world's number 11, who entered the field with a use of protected ranking after losing whole the year on recovery from injury issues, played an exciting match against wild card receiver - Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, the 175th player from WTA rankings representing Andorra. Pavlyuchenkova has needed 2:55 hours to advance into second round, winning the match after decicing set's tiebreak, 6-1 6-7(5) 7-6(7). The Russian could make the job done much earlier as being a break up in both second and third set, but the 17 years-old Jimenez Kasintseva showed a great fighting spirit, making difficult conditions for her much more experienced opponent. Pavlyuchenkova will play against her fellowcountry Daria Kasatkina in second round.
Elena Svitolina is another player who appeared in the main draw with a protected ranking, as the Ukrainian performs her comeback to the competition after a break caused by giving a birth to her child last year. Svitolina was playing against Aliaksandra Sasnovich today and came up short 4-6 5-7, scoring third loss in a row. Svitolina came back to play in Charleston in first week of April, playing a promising and competitive match against Yulia Putintseva, taking the Kazakh into a distance and losing in tight three setter. After this, Svitolina tried to get back some match practice in lower level ITF tournaments, but managed to win just one match there so far. Sasnovich played really well today, coming back from being 1-3 down in second set, which allowed her to score quite a comfortable straight sets win. Marie Bouzkova is the next opponent for the Belarusian.
The home fans could especially cheer for the match between their two racquets - Rebecca Masarova and Cristina Bucsa. Both player showed up well in recent months, as Bucsa is making a constant progress since last year, advancing into top 100 at first and becoming second best ranked Spanish player as well, being placed 70th in the WTA list right now. Masarova has also rised up her game, especially since the start of this year, as she managed to advance into WTA 250 final in Auckland, starting the campaign from the qualies. The current world's number 74 was a slight pre-match favorite before the all-Spanish clash against Bucsa and prevailed there by winning 6-3 5-7 6-4 in an interesting three-setter, which was played in front of the crowd of main court on Manolo Santana Stadium. Donna Vekic is the next opponent for the Spaniard.
Tomorrow's WTA action in Madrid promise to be another exciting dose of tennis emotions. Paula Badosa starts her campaign as the biggest hope of local fans after last year's withdrawal due to an injury. The top Spanish player who improved her form after the health issues naggling her from the start of this year, will play against Elisabetta Cocciaretto on the main court. Aryna Sabalenka will play an exciting match against Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian eliminated the current Australian Open champion in their last meeting in quarterfinal of WTA 1000 tournament in Miami. The other top seeds come to action tomorrow as well. Caroline Garcia plays an interesting clash against Yulia Putintseva. Petra Kvitova comes back after a withdrawal from WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, playing against Jule Niemeier. Cori Gauff opens the play in Manolo Santana Stadium from a match against Irene Burillo Escorihuela. The 25 years-old Spaniard managed to overcome the qualies and eliminated Kaia Kanepi in first round, to get a reward in a form of playing against world's top 10 player tomorrow.
