Ostapenko, Venus suffer shock defeats in Madrid
madrid — Two-time defending champion Simona Halep brushed aside Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-0 in the first round of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
The top-seeded Halep recorded her 13th consecutive victory on Madrid’s clay courts. “I was moving great. I felt the game, I like to play on this court,” said the No. 1-ranked Halep. “Always when I come back here, I feel a little bit more relaxed, so maybe that’s why I can touch my best level every time I play.”
Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble dispensing with Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-1. The Australian Open winner is playing a week after she withdrew from the Istanbul Cup due to an abdominal
I think I could play much better. Some parts were good, but my concentration was up and down Karolina Pliskova
injury. Also, Samantha Stosur outlasted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3, Sorana Cirstea defeated Czech Katerina Siniakova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, and Carla Suarez beat Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-3.
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko’s preparations in the run-up to the claycourt major hit the skids in the first round of the Madrid Open on Saturday as she was beaten 6-3 6-3 by unseeded Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
The Latvian has failed to scale the same heights she reached last year when she emerged out of nowhere to conquer Roland Garros.
But if the 20-year-old harbours any hopes of repeating that run in Paris later this month, she will have to make a vast improvement on Saturday’s error-filled performance.
Joining her at the exit was American Venus Williams, a runner-up in Madrid in 2010. She was beaten 3-6 6-3 6-2 by Estonian Anett Kontaveit. World number four Elina Svitolina and former world number one Karolina Pliskova, however, eased to victories.
Ukrainian Svitolina, the fourth seed, struck 28 winners and lost her serve just once as she brushed Alize Cornet aside for a 6-2 6-2 victory.
Svitolina is aiming to win her third title of the year but the 23-year-old has never progressed past the second round in Madrid.
Sixth seed Pliskova, coming off a Stuttgart Open title win last month, extended her winning run to six matches after striking 29 winners and seven aces to sweep past Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-2. “I think I could play much better. Some parts were good, but my concentration was up and down. Sometimes, after you win a tournament you feel like everything is going to be easy, and I wasn’t fighting like I was in Stuttgart,” Pliskova said.