Bob Larson's Tennis News | Sunday Daily Tennis News Women's Summary

Madrid
Singles - First Round: (1) Victoria Azarenka def. Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(7-5) 6-4
A really tough first round match, but Victoria Azarenka is used to tough matches by now.... She hasn't clinched the year-end #1 by any means, but at the rate she is going, it might happen not much after Wimbledon.

Singles - First Round: (2) Maria Sharapova def. Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0 6-3
A nice start for Maria Sharapova, given that she risks losing the #2 ranking here.

Singles - First Round: (4) Agnieszka Radwanska def. (WC) Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino 6-3 6-1
It remains almost impossible to upset Agnieszka Radwanska this year. As we noted in our preview, she appears to have an outside shot at the #2 ranking. If she can win this event, she probably deserves it.

Singles - First Round: (6) Caroline Wozniacki def. Ksenia Pervak 7-6(9-7) 3-6 6-4
Lucky for Caroline Wozniacki that Marion Bartoli is out. With struggles like this, Wozniacki would have a hard time keeping the #6 ranking against a Bartoli who showed any trace of form. And even though Wozniacki survives this three hour match, she hurt her ankle in the course of the match, so things may be even worse in the later rounds.

Singles - First Round: (Q) Varvara Lepchenko def. (11) Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-7(8-10) 6-3
This has been a tough year for Francesca Schiavone, but this is especially scary. Obviously it marks an end to her Top Ten hopes.

Singles - First Round: (12) Angelique Kerber def. (Q) Johanna Larsson 6-1 6-4
Angelique Kerber comes here the #3 German, behind Andrea Petkovic and Sabine Lisicki. But the latter two are both injured; neither one is playing here. This might well be the week Kerber becomes Germany's #1.

Singles - First Round: (13) Ana Ivanovic def. (Q) Mathilde Johansson 6-4 6-1
A help to Ana Ivanovic's Top Fifteen hopes, although that surely will not be settled for some days.

Singles - First Round: Roberta Vinci def. (14) Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-2
Roberta Vinci under-performed a little last week -- but this is better, since these are required points.

Singles - First Round: (16) Maria Kirilenko def. Zheng Jie 6-2 7-5
That's a quick recovery for Maria Kirilenko! Not only did she manage to play, which seemed doubtful a couple of days ago, but she played well.

Singles - First Round: Nadia Petrova def. Vania King 4-6 6-3 6-1
Nadia Petrova really seems to be struggling, but it looks as if she will probably earn a Roland Garros seed.

Singles - First Round: Yanina Wickmayer def. Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-4
Jarmila Gajdosova remains in free fall. We frankly have no idea where this will end.

Singles - First Round: Shahar Peer def. Polona Hercog 6-3 7-5
A paper upset, but Polona Hercog has been in a funk all year.

Singles - First Round: Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Tsvetana Pironkova 6-0 6-2
Tsvetana Pironkova wasn't that much above the cutoff for direct entry here. Maybe she shouldn't have bothered....

Singles - First Round: (Q) Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Monica Niculescu 6-0 7-6(8-6)
Lourdes Dominguez Lino had a great clay season last year, then flopped. Looks like she's just getting started a little later this year.

Singles - First Round: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. (Q) Jill Craybas 6-2 6-7(6-8) 6-1
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is in a horrid slump, but at least she is young. Jill Craybas seems to have pushed her career about as far as it can go....