Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Petra Kvitova successful at the Mutua Madrid Open
Bethanie Mattek-Sands eased past compatriot Vania King 6-0, 6-2 on Tuesday to reach the third round at 2011 Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.
Mattek-Sands dominated her opponent in a completely one-sided contest. The American required only an hour and eleven minutes dispatching her opponent. In her previous match at the Women’s Tennis Association tournament Mattek-Sands ousted 15th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Defeating a top 20 player would have given her a lot of confidence in her abilities as she executed her shots to perfection against King.
The 26-year-old Mattek Sands made a confident start to the match and looked to pressurize her opponent with her aggressive intent. She used her forehand and backhand shots to great effect and also earned vital points by playing in her clever chips shots. In the opening set Mattek Sands did not drop a game as she took the set score lead 1-0. Kings on the other hand looked out of form as she committed a fair of number of unforced errors. Her on-court movement was slow and she struggled to get to the ball.
Kings miserable form continued in the second set as well. Although she broke the serve once in the set, her overall performance was quite ordinary. Mattek-Sands grabbed the opportunities with both hands and made her opponent pay heavily for her mistakes. She converted the very first match point to complete her straight set victory.
An impressive 68 per cent first serve conversion and more than 60 per cent points on serve return gave Mattek-Sands complete control in the contest. She dominated the challenger in nearly all aspects of the game. The American broke the serve six times in the match and made the challenger run for her money. Her next round opponent will be Francesca Schiavone who defeated Italian Sara Errani 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 to reach that far. Despite her good form at the red clay courts tournament, Mattek-Sands will have to be at her best if she wants to overcome WTA world number 4 Schiavone.
In another match at the WTA competition, number 16 seed Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic made quick work of South African Chanelle Scheepers to book a place in the third round.
Kvitova’s serve was her real asset as she achieved 77 per cent first serve conversion. She broke the serve three times in the match and required only one hour and two minutes to end the contest. Kvitova has been in decent form since the start of this season. At Paris she claimed her third WTA title of her career defeating top seeded Kim Clijsters in the final. The 21-year-old will be hoping for similar results here at the Madrid Open.
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