Third round of WTA 1000 Madrid Mutua Open got completed with 8 today's matches played in Caja Magica. The main contenders who battled for the round of 16 spot on Sunday, did their job done well. Iga Swiatek needed just 76 minutes to overcome Bernarda Pera. Barely anyone could expect the tournament's 28th seed to make any upset on Swiatek, but the American started well by defending 3 breakpoints in second game of the match and moving into the lead a game later by earning a surprising break advantage on the Pole. Swiatek has not discouraged herself too much and took the control of this set a while later, by winning 4 games in a row. Second set was no such a slow start from Swiatek, as she gained the break in opening game and had no issues to deliver till the end. 6-3 6-2 is a final score. Pera was really effective to make some contention in the opening phase of this match, as she converted the only one produced breakpoint by herself throught whole the match. Swiatek produced many more (13), while converting 4 of them allowed her to secure the comfortable win.
Ekaterina Alexandrova will be the opponent of the world ranking's leader in round of 16. The Russian prevailed in an interesting match-up against Qinwen Zheng, defeating the Chinese 5-7 6-4 6-2 after 2.5 hours of play. There was no clear favorite there, while Zheng was rated just slightly higher related to 1.70 odd before the match. The opening set was a highlight with some momentum switches there. Zheng started well with an early break and 3-0 lead, but lost the serve twice and Alexandrova had a chance to serve for the set. The world's number 17 did not capitalize this chance, as Zheng broke back and grabbed the set with another break in 12th game, after utilizing third of setpoints. Two following sets were one way traffic though. Alexandrova started to serve really well and put the pressure on her opponent. Zheng produced two breakpoints in 6th game of second set while already being a break down, but did not manage to level the score. Third set was a great display of performance from Alexandrova, who did not allow her opponent to create any single breakpoint and snatched the victory by winning 4 games in a row since the score 2-2.
Barbora Krejcikova had no issues to deliver the routine win over Xiyu Wang. The Czech was on the front foot from the start of both sets, building the big advantage, which was clearly seen with on-court performance from both players. The Chinese did not give up though, as she managed to break Krejcikova once in both sets, when the tournament's 10th seed was already two and three breaks up respectively. Petra Martic will be Krejcikova's rival in round of 16. The Slovenian eliminated Anna Kalinskaya in three sets, 6-3 4-6 6-3. Each of the sets was quite one-sided, but it was Martic who dominated in the decisive one and made it through against the opponent who performed a big upset in previous round by eliminating Elena Rybakina. Despite the Kazakh being already out from the tournament, the big clash between Swiatek and Krejcikova is just around the corner, if both favorites will advance into quarterfinals.
Jessica Pegula scored an expected win over Marie Bouzkova, moving into round of 16 with a straight set victory, 6-4 7-6(2). It was not a cakewalk for the world's number 3 though. The Czech who made it through the top 30 of WTA rankings last year, plays a really miserable season so far. Bouzkova, who had a great second half of previous year, was capable to win two matches in one tournament only once in 2023 so far. She did not manage to repeat this streak in Madrid, but make quite hard conditions for Pegula, who needed to put some effort in terms of advancing into next round. The match started with a strong hold from Pegula, who defended 5 breakpoints in the opening game which was 10 deuces long. The American started to run away with a score, while leading 4-1 with a single break, but did not serve for the set in 10th game despite being *5-4 40-15 up. After wasting 3 setpoints within own serve, Pegula needed to regain her advantage and put the pressure during the service game of her opponent. She needed another 3 setpoints, but made it after 6 attempts and closed the set which lasted 68 minutes despite it were just 10 games played there. The American started second set with an early break and 2-0 lead, but Bouzkova leveled in third game and tiebreak was needed there, despite two matchpoints for Pegula during the 10th game. It was Bouzkova's service game, who cleared the danger and forced the tiebreak, but had no arguments there, while Pegula dominated the 13th game and won it 7-2 eventually. The match lasted 2:17 hours despite being just a two-setter. What is interesting looking at the stats, Bouzkova created as many as 14 breakpoints, to just 8 produced by Pegula. The American converted one more and was clinical in the only one tiebreak played there, which helped her to secure the spot in round of 16.
Martina Trevisan will be Pegula's opponent in next round, as the world's number 20 prevailed against another American, Alycia Parks, winning 7-6(3) 6-1. The opening set was a shaky one with 6 breaks out of 12 games, where Trevisan wasted a double break advantage. Parks came back from being 2-5 down and defended a setpoint within Trevisan's serve in 8th game to force the tiebreak. The world's number 54 was even leading in the 13th game, but Trevisan won 6 points in a row since the score 1-3 and clinched the set. Second phase was a one way traffic, as the Italian dominated it from the start till the end.
Daria Kasatkina will play against Veronika Kudermetova in an interesting all-Russian clash in round of 16. Kudermetova prevailed against another fellowcountry in the longest match of the day, as she defeated Anastasia Potapova 7-6(6) 5-7 6-3 after 3 hours of play. Potapova was a slight pre-match favorite with an odd 1.65, but Kudermetova was in the driver's seat to win this match much earlier due to winning the opening set in tie-break and leading comfortably in second set. It was just a single break gap, but the world's number 13 was 5-2 up and had a matchpoint during Potapova's serve in 8th game, who defended it and performed a great come back, while winning 5 games in a row to force the decider. The third set was a great serving performance from both with no breakpoints till the 8th game, when Kudermetova produced and converted the only one breakpoint throughout whole the set and did not fail to serve for the match a game later. Kasatkina had much less work to do, as she defeated Lesia Tsurenko in two easy sets, 6-4 6-2.
