Yesterday in Madrid, for the third consecutive time, Dominika Cibuulkova defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova. Cibulkova won 6-3, 6-2 over the 12th seed. Yanina Wickmayer, though unseeded, was undoubtedly expected by many to go deep in this tournament, but she, too, was defeated. Ekaterina Makarova beat Wickmayer 6-4, 6-4 in today's first round play.
Defending champion Aravane Rezai went out, too--6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to Sofia Arvidsson. Flavia Pennetta and Nadia Petrova were also beaten in the first round. Pennetta is just returning from rehab for a shoulder injury, and Petrova has been coping with an ongoing illness.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost the first set 6-0 to Ana Ivanovic, then went on to win the next two. And probably no one had to work as hard as Chanelle Scheepers, who served for the match at 5-3 in the third set served against Monica Niculescu, and then was broken twice. Scheepers broke back, which took the players to a tiebreak, and Scheepers prevailed. It took Scheepers two hours and 47 minutes to win at 4-6, 6-3, 7-6.
Of the three French Open champions playing in Madrid, only Francesca Schiavone survived the opening round. She defeated Peng Shuai 7-5, 7-6.
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