Ekaterina Makarova ends Victoria Azarenka’s winning streak – Mutua Madrid Open 2013
Former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, made her comeback from injury at Mutua Madrid Open but couldn’t last the second round of the tournament. The third ranked Belarusian was stunned by an excellent display of high quality
tennis from the unseeded Russian, Ekaterina Makarova, in the second round battle on Wednesday. The world number 24 took one hour and 53 minutes to wrap up her emphatic victory in three sets, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Azarenka was having a perfect 18-0 record this season so far, with two WTA championship titles under her belt. Her winning streak didn’t last against the hard-hitting left-hander from Russia and she had to suffer her first defeat
of the year. The Belarusian was leading 3-1 in the head-to-head series prior to the contest and was expected to overcome Makarova in a convincing fashion. She had won all the last three encounters with the 24-year-old Russian but it was the payback time for
Makarova. The crafty left-hander dropped the opening set of the match poorly but stunned everyone with some pin-point hitting to reel off the following two sets comprehensively.
"We played many times before and I didn't win so much - I'm not that comfortable against her game," Makarova said. "It was a really tough first set for me - when I came out I wasn't playing as well as I wanted to, then I got a
little bit angry and it was really tough to change my game and my mentality. But coming into Madrid I was feeling good and I really enjoy these clay courts because it's a little bit faster here. I just tried to move her around more in the second and third
sets and it worked. I'm so happy I came through it today."
Makarova will play against the French powerhouse, Marion Bartoli, in the next match to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of this WTA Premier Mandatory tournament in Madrid, Spain. Bartoli was successful against the Spanish
qualifier, Maria Teresa Torro Flor, in the second round. She had to dig deep to put aside the Spaniard in three gruelling sets, settling the final score at 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, to reach the third round of the tournament.
Tags: