Madrid (Spain) – WTA 1000 Madrid champion in 2022, Ons Jabeur debuted with a difficult victory in the clay-court tournament in Spain. The Tunisian needed three sets and 2h28 to overcome Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 68th in the rankings, with splits of 6/4, 5/7 and 6/3.
This was only the fourth victory of the season for Jabeur and the second on clay. Last week in Stuttgart she ended a five-game losing streak. The 29-year-old player and current number 9 in the world has been dealing with a knee injury and believes that clay, as it offers less impact to the joints, gives confidence for good results on the floor.
After winning the first set with two breaks, Jabeur led the second set by 5/3, but lost a match point when serving for the game and allowed her rival to react, who ended the set by winning four games in a row. The Tunisian, however, had a devastating start to the third set and came out winning 3/0 and served, with 12 points out of 13 possible. Even though they lost one of the lead breaks, they were ahead on the scoreboard the entire time and won the game.
Jabeur’s opponent in the third round in Madrid will be 21-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez, 28th in the rankings, who beat Russian Anastasia Potapova 7/5 and 6/3. The Tunisian won the two previous duels against Fernandez, both defined in the third set. The last meeting between them was in 2021, on the grass in Birmingham.
Stephens wins seventh straight and faces Sakkari
WTA 250 Rouen Champion last Sunday, North American Sloane Stephens scored her seventh straight victory on clay. The experienced 31-year-old player, now 33rd in the rankings, beat Belgian Elise Mertens, 29th, by 3/6, 6/3 and 6/1. As she was unseeded in Madrid, Stephens played on consecutive days. In her debut, the North American was on the court for 3h16 against the Italian Martina Trevisan.
After two long games in Madrid and the five he won in last week’s French tournament, Stephens will have another tough game in the next round of the tournament. She faces the Greek Maria Sakkari, number 6 in the world. The only previous duel was won by the Greek, in 2022 in Toronto.
Carlé wins another and challenges Ostapenko
Argentine Maria Lourdes Carlé continues to achieve good results on clay in Madrid. After beating the qualifiers and dominating the debut of the main draw against the British Emma Raducanu, Carlé this Thursday beat the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, 19th in the ranking, by double 6/4. Carlé, 24 years old and ranked 82nd, has the best ranking of his career and has yet to lose sets in Madrid. Her next rival is the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, number 10 in the world, who beat the Spanish Jessica Bouzas by 6/3 and 6/1.
