In keeping with previous editions of the event in Madrid, there has been a prevalence of upsets in the second round.
(Rank/Seed)
1/1 Serena, the defending champion had a workout but beat Dominguez Lino 62 75.
2/2 Sharapova had no trouble against qualifier McHale 61 62, extending her red clay winning streak to 22.
3/3 Azarenka let her recent lack of match practice bother her, letting a strong lead slip to lose to Makarova 16 62 63. After a confident start, Azarenka's sloppy play allowed Makarova to break early in the second set. Azarenka couldn't control her temper after being docked a point in the third set due to verbal obscenities and racket abuse. After a tirade against the umpire, Azarenka was out of the match, losing five straight games from 3-1 up in the third. It was her first loss of the year, snapping her 18 match winning streak and a reminder that the Azarenka of old can still resurface when she isn't match tight. It was her earliest loss since Stanford 2011, excluding retirements and withdrawals. Still, it's her first tournament back and I expect she'll be back soon.
6/6 Kerber had a real struggle against Kuznetsova in the third round, winning 36 64 75 to reach a first quarter final here. The clay seems to have revived Kerber's year as she ultimately took control from the baseline with her flat hitting against the Russian.
8/8 Kvitova continued to demonstrate patchy form on clay, losing for the first time in her career to Hantuchova 26 62 63 on the back of too many unforced errors. Yet another early loss in Madrid certainly makes her run to the title in 2011 seem all the more odd!
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