Author: Chandra Moulee Das
Canada’s Rebecca Marino beat China’s Zhu Lin 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the second round of the Madrid Open.
Marino’s victory was helped by his impressive display of 11 aces and just two double faults, as well as breaking three of his eight chances and winning 73.1 percent of points on his first serve. In contrast, Zhu failed to produce any aces, committed five double faults, hit 2 out of 7 break-point chances and won just 62.3 percent of points on his first serve.
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard booked her place in the main draw with a 6-3, 6-2 win over American Elizabeth Mandlik in the second and final qualifying round. Bouchard achieved this feat by unleashing four aces without committing a double fault, and winning 63.9 percent of points on her first serve, compared to Mandlik’s 47.5 percent.
The 29-year-old is now set to play her first WTA 1000 main draw match on clay in six years, after qualifying for the 2023 Madrid Open. In 2017, Bouchard reached the quarter-finals of the same tournament, beating Alize Cornet (a two-time French Open champion), Maria Sharapova, and top seed Angelique Kerber, before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The tournament underwent an expansion this year, featuring a larger main draw and a longer schedule.
During the first round of the women’s draw on Tuesday, Ana Bogdan managed to recover and beat Anna Bondar with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in a match that lasted more than three hours. Sorana Cirstea also booked her place in the next round by beating American Lauren Davis 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Karolina Muchova dominated Anett Kontaveit to book her place in the next round with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Notably, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, who are the two highest-ranked players in the world, will also be competing in the women’s tournament at the Caja Magica (“Magic Box”) tennis complex in the Spanish capital.