Sports
Serena Williams eases into second round in Madrid Open
Madrid, May 5
World number one Serena Williams
needed less than an hour on Monday to get her campaign for the Mutua
Madrid Open off to a comfortable start with a 6-4, 6-0 win over fellow
American Sloane Stephens, media reported on Tuesday.
Williams,
despite a slow start, soon found her rhythm and Stephens had no answer
to her power on the beaten clay of the Caja Magica center court, Xinhua
reported.
Williams was joined in the second round by number five
seed, Caroline Wozniachi, who nevertheless needed an hour and a half to
dispatch qualifier Christina McHale 7-5, 6-0 after being made to dig
deep in the first set which she won in the 12th game.
The morning
saw good news for the womens' seeds as number 9 seed Agnieszka
Radwanska needed just over an hour to win her match against Casey
Dellaqua 6-2, 6-2, and 13th seed Lucie Safarova also had a sets (6-3,
6-1) win over Tsevlana Pironkova.
The experienced Russian
Svetland Kuznetsova had to dig deep against unfancied Spaniard, Gabine
Muguruza, who raised her game with the support of the Madrid fans, but
finally lost after 2 hours and 40 minutes, (6-3, 5-7, 7-5).
Australian, Samantha Stosur also booked her place in the next round thanks to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Finland's Kaia Kanepi.
In
the men's tournament, big-hitting number 16 seed, John Isner qualified
in two sets, although he was made to work hard for his 7-6 (2), 6-4 win
against France's Adrian Mannarino.
Meanwhile local favorite Feliciano Lopez had to work a lot harder to defeat Benjamin Becker 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
The
big serving left hander from Toledo is one of the few Spaniards who is
happier on a fast court than on beaten clay, but he is helped by the
altitude at Madrid which means the ball flies through the air faster
than in many tournaments played at sea level.