Madrid (Spain) – Fueled after shining in the duel against France for the Billie Jean King Cup and reaching the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 in Stuttgart last week, Emma Raducanu did not make it past her debut at the WTA 1000 in Madrid. Facing Argentine Maria Lourdes Carlé, 24 years old and 82nd in the rankings, the young British woman was overcome with a double 6/2 in 1h25 of the match.
This was Carlé’s first career victory in a 1000-level event, after falling in the first round in Miami and failing to make it past his debut in the Indian Wells qualifier. The 24-year-old player’s biggest achievement is the WTA 125 title in La Bisbal, also this season.
In the next round, the Argentine will face Russian Veronika Kudermetova, seeded 17th and who got a bye in the first phase. The winner of this confrontation will face whoever passes the duel between Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, eighth main candidate for the title, and Spanish Jessica Bouzas, who upset compatriot Paula Badosa also this Wednesday.
Raducanu falls again in the first round of a tournament after just over two months. In 2024, she has seven wins and seven losses on the circuit, with the main result being the quarterfinals in Stuttgart. Formerly top 10, she is currently ranked 221st, although she is using invitations and the protected ranking to enter the main competitions after being out for more than eight months due to injury.
+ Click here and follow the TenisBrasil Channel on WhatsApp
Stephens wins sixth straight
Champion of the WTA 250 in Rouen last Sunday, American Sloane Stephens continues in good form and is already in the second round in Madrid. The 2017 US Open champion had to fight for a long 3h16 against the Italian Martina Trevisan, applying splits of 6/3, 5/7 and 6/4. Stephens will now face Belgian Elise Mertens, the 28th main participant in the tournament. Whoever advances from this clash will face the winner of the match between the Greek Maria Sakkari, fifth pre-classified, and the Croatian Donna Vekic, who easily beat the German Laura Siegemund by 6/1 and 6/2.
Spanish women start well
In addition to Jessica Bouzas, who won the local duel against Paula Badosa, two other tennis players from home started their campaigns with victory in Madrid. Cristina Bucsa beat the British Harriet Dart with a double 6/4 and will be the debut opponent of the Russian Daria Kasatkina, seeded number 10. Sara Sorribes got past the North American Bernarda Pera, tormentor of the São Paulo native Laura Pigossi in the opening round of quali, by the score of 7/5 and 6/2. She now faces Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, 16th favorite in the competition.
Chinese saves ten match-points and wins
In one of the most competitive matches of this first round, Chinese Xinyu Wang achieved an incredible feat of saving ten 10 match-points in the second set against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, and reacting towards victory. After losing the first set by 7/5, Wang found himself behind by 5/2 in the next set, saving three decisive balls in the eighth game and seven more in the ninth. She then turned the score to 7/5 and won the third set 6/4, closing the game after 2h49. Wang will face Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, seeded 21st in the tournament.
