The women’s draw at the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open is now full after the conclusion of the second and final day of qualifying on Wednesday. Despite all the Spaniards bowing out on the first day, the 12 players who earned themselves a place in the Madrid WTA 1000 produced some impressive tennis before their openers in the main draw tomorrow.
In the session that started the day, Vera Zvonareva was the first player to etch her name onto the draw when she beat Slovakian player Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-1 in the Arantxa Sánchez Stadium. The Russian was joined shortly afterwards by Kateryna Kozlova, who defeated Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-4. Ana Bogdan needed 2 hours and 6 minutes to come back against Japanese player Nao Hibino (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) in the Manolo Santana Stadium. After losing the first set, the Romanian won the next two against the 20th seed.
The first upset of the morning came in the form of the rapid defeat of Hsieh Su-Wei, No. 65 in the WTA ranking and 6th seed in the qualifiers. In just 47 minutes, Tamara Zidansek beat the Asian player 6-1, 6-0. It was not the only surprise result of the second group of morning matches. Montenegrin Danka Kovinic, the fifth seed, who saw off Spaniard Marta Custic yesterday, bowed out to Japanese player Misaki Doi in 1 hour and 24 minutes. The Australian Ajla Tomljanovic needed a little longer (1 hour and 37 minutes) to overcome Xiyu Wang 7-6, 6-1.
Kristina Mladenovic, the second seed in qualifying and No. 55 in the WTA ranking, will also be in the main draw. After a tight first set, the Frenchwoman eventually took the spoils against Anastasia Potapova, 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 23 minutes. She will be joined by Laura Siegemund, the number three seed, who had to battle to come back in her match (4-6, 6-1, 6-0) against Belarusian player Aliaksandra Sasnovich. The German world No. 59 eventually stamped her authority by dominating the final two sets.
The last four matches of the qualifiers closed out the day. The first win of the afternoon went to Romanian player Irina-Camelia Begu, the 14th seed, who barely gave the Swiss Stefanie Voegele a look in during their 31-minute encounter, 6-3, 6-3. Next, Nina Stojanovic beat the Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-4, 6-2 in 1 hour and 19 minutes to seal her place in the main draw of the Madrid WTA 1000. The favourite for the qualifiers was equally convincing in her match against Marta Kostyuk. The highest ranked player and No. 1 seed in the ‘qualies’, Anastasija Sevastova, beat the Ukrainian 6-1, 7-5.
