Some top ten players have already assured their third round places, whilst others have only just completed their first round battles. Unsurprisingly for Madrid, there were more upsets!
(Rank/Seed)
2/2 Sharapova extended her red clay court winning streak to 21 with a 75 62 win over qualifier Dulgheru in the first round. The Romanian was once in the top 30 and has recently struggled with injury. Sharapova didn't underestimate her clay court specialist opponent and trailed an early break before eventually coasting to the win.
3/3 Azarenka extended her unbeaten run this year to 18 matches with a close win over (19)Pavlyuchenkova 76(8) 76(3) in the first round. It was a tough draw; Victoria hadn't played in six weeks because of her ankle injury and had to play the Russian who had just won the title in Oeiras. Azarenka battled through a fierce contest from the back court, saving 3 set points down 3-6 in the first set tiebreak, then having let a 5-2 second set lead slip, came back from 5-6 0-40 against the Russian's serve to ultimately survive and remain unbeaten against Anastasia.
4/4 Radwanska was pummelled by Robson 63 61 in the second round. The match was on serve until 3-3 in the first, but then Robson's lefty power game took over as she won nine of the last ten games. Laura had lost her last three tour matches on clay and hadn't beaten a top 4 player before, but she is renowned for being a giant killer, having beaten the likes of Clijsters, Li and Kvitova in the past. Radwanska, bearing lighter hair than usual, struggled to hit through the clay and perform her magic, losing prior to the quarter finals here for the fourth times in five tries!
6/6 Kerber had a smooth progression past Cornet 64 62 in the second round.
7/7 Errani battled hard past a determined and somewhat injured Cirstea 75 46 62 in the second round, having initially led 75 20.
9/9 Stosur is still struggling since her calf injury, losing 76(7) 62 against Suarez Navarro in the first round. The Spaniard focused her attack on Stosur's backhand and having saved a set point in the tiebreak, ran away with the third. Stosur has now lost her last two matches against Carla and her last two matches on clay; traditionally one of her best surfaces.
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