In a week where the retirement of Garbiñe Muguruza and the unfortunate injury of Paula Badosa have made the headlines, the first day of the women’s competition at the Mutua Madrid Open saw eight Spaniards in action. However, so far, only Jessica Bouzas has managed to come through her clash unscathed, beating Claire Lou 2-6, 6-2, 4-6.
The Galician has shown recent form on clay, reaching the final of the W100 in Zaragoza and she proved it was no fluke in a frenetic first set during which her serve held strong. In the second, the Chinese player levelled the match before Bouzas managed to gather herself in the decider to win three of her five break points and seal her passage to the next round.
Jessica’s opponent in the semis in Zaragoza, Irene Burillo, was the first to try her luck on the clay of Madrid. After some solid performances, including a quarter-final at the W75 Chiasso in Switzerland, she was unable to handle the tennis of Zou Xhounang.
Some inconsistent serving in the first set, with 53% of her first serves hitting their mark (and only winning 30% of those), was reflected on the scoreboard. Despite winning the second set after upping her performance with ball in hand, she eventually bowed out 2-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Nuria Párrizas, the oldest member of the Armada, stepped out onto court 4 intent on moving Niemeier from side to side, aware of her potent forehand. Her plan appeared to be working, but the German changed tactics and used her drop shop to avoid long rallies.
Even so, Nuria refused to give in and gradually wore her opponent down enough to force a tiebreak in which both players had set points. Now at 1-0 up, Niemeyer began to falter on her serve, but eventually managed to shake off the Spaniard with some solid backhands.
In the first clash of the afternoon session, Rebeka Masarova, the Spaniard with the highest WTA ranking, had no more luck than her compatriots, losing in the third set to Vickery. The American player’s consistency for over two hours proved to be too much for the aggression of the groundstrokes of Rebeka, who never managed to break down Sachia’s defences.
