MADRID (AP) ― Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka and second-seeded Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open with straight-set wins Sunday on the event’s new blue-clay court.
Azarenka beat Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a tough opening match.
The Australian Open champion and Kuznetsova traded breaks in the first set. Just when it looked as if the second set was going to end in another tiebreaker, Azarenka broke again to close out the match.
“It was a really close match, so I was just happy that I won because they were difficult games to break,” said Azarenka, who added that the differences between the new surface and traditional red clay were not limited to color.
“It is pretty slippery. The bounce is different which changes everything completely already. It’s just a completely different thing.”
Azarenka, last year’s runner-up, has won four titles this year. She will play Andrea Hlavackova or Anastasia Rodionova in the next round.
Sharapova had an easier debut with a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu.
Sharapova stormed to an early lead by winning the first seven games. After Begu saved a match point the Romanian player had a double break chance, but Sharapova saved both points to hold serve and secure a second-round meeting with Klara Zakopalova.
Also, sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki served six aces in a 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-4 win over Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan.
Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska didn’t give up a single break chance in her 6-3, 6-1 win over Lara Arruabarrena-Veci.
The 12th-seeded Angelique Kerber beat Johanna Larsson 6-1, 6-4 to advance to a second-round match with Venus Williams, while 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic brushed by Mathilde Johansson of France 6-4, 6-1.
Roberta Vinci of Italy defeated 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-2, and American Varvara Lepchenko upset 11th seed Francesca Schiavone 6-4, (8) 6-7, 6-3.
Estoril Open
OEIRAS, Portugal (AP) ― Argentina’s Juan del Potro won his second consecutive Estoril Open title, using a strong serve to beat France’s Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-2 Sunday.
Del Potro, seeded first and ranked 12th, won his second title of the year and 11th of his career.
“I felt it was my best match of the week,” Del Potro said. “I felt really confident on my forehand and I grew in confidence every game.”
Gasquet, seeded second, also lost this clay-court final in 2007 when he faced Novak Djokovic. He dropped serve early in both sets. Del Potro didn’t give up a break chance in the match and had six aces in improving his record against Gasquet to 4-1.
“He’s very tall and has a good second serve and was hitting the ball very well,” Gasquet said. “He was the better player today.”
BMW Open
MUNICH (AP) ― Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 7-6 (8), 6-3 Sunday to win the BMW Open for the second time.
Kohlschreiber, seeded fourth, also won this clay-court tournament in 2007. He saved seven of eight break points to capture his fourth title in his sixth ATP final. His previous title also came in Germany ― last year’s Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
Serbia Open
BELGRADE (AP) ― Andreas Seppi of Italy defeated Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-2 Sunday to win the Serbia Open for the second title of his career.
Paire was playing his first ATP final after upsetting top-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain in Saturday’s semifinals. Seppi, seeded second, won his first tournament last June in Eastbourne.
“It was a fantastic week for me,” said Seppi.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
