DAY two of the Madrid Open fantasy tournament saw two seeds eliminated from the competition while a couple of wildcard and qualifying entrants reigned supreme. Among the strongest winners of the day were Ash Barty, Caroline Garcia and Magda Linette, with all three players applying phenomenal pressure and speed to their matches for around 45-minute wins.

Barty was quick out of the blocks and came out strong against Swiss, Jill Teichmann, collecting the 6-1 6-1 win with relative ease and making a statement heading into the second round. The next top seed however in Sofia Kenin was eliminated, going down to her qualifying opposition in Kateryna Kozlova. Kenin put up tough fight as ever, winning back the second set in a tiebreaker after losing momentum towards the end of the first, putting her on the back foot. But Kozlova had a point to prove in the third set, winning it and the match with an impressive 7-5 5-7 6-4 victory over the Australian Open champion.

Thirteenth seed Bianca Andreescu also had a shock departure, but to the hands of young talent Iga Swiatek, who played her first match since turning 18-years-old last week. Swiatek was clinical against the Canadian, running out straight sets victor, 6-3 7-5 and getting back as much pressure as she was applying to Andreescu. Meanwhile, Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto defeated fifteenth seed Kazakh, Elena Rybakina in a tantalising match that saw Rybakina come out flying in the first before struggling to contain the wildcard from then on, going down 5-7 6-1 6-1.

Where Kenin, Andreescu and Rybakina had tough matches against their unseeded opposition, the rest of the day’s seeds made it through with relative ease, all racking up straight sets victories. The two Czech competitors in Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova came out on top, and while Kvitova was unbothered by her Slovenian competitor in Polona Hercog, winning 6-2 6-4, Pliskova had a tougher go against wildcard, Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

Sasnovich was not going down without a fight, putting in a stellar effort early in the second to maintain some momentum she snatched away from the fifth seed toward the end of the first set, but it was to no avail as Pliskova heads into the second round with the 6-4 6-4 victory. Seventh seed Kiki Bertens came away with a solid win against Ekaterina Alexandrova with little challenge on the Russian’s part, while Spain’s Garbine Muguruza was challenged early by qualifier, Bernarda Pera, before consolidating in the second set to take out the 6-4 6-2 victory. 

Linette’s stellar straight sets victory came over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, defeating her 6-1 6-1 while Kuznetsva’s compatriot Veronika Kudermetova stormed out of the blocks but to no avail, going down to Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-2. The only Russian to continue past the first round was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who ran out victor over American, Alison Riske, 6-3 3-6 6-1. Despite a small slump through the middle of the match, Pvlyuchenkova was clinical and clean throughout and was well deserving of the victory. United States compatriots Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens had a much better day on the court than Riske, both running out straight sets victors. While Stephens pulled out a relatively quick 6-4 6-3 victory against Great Britain’s Heather Watson, Keys destroyed German opposition Angelique Kerber in the second set, collecting the 6-4 6-0 victory as she did so.

In the last few matches, Garcia ran out speedy victor over Viktoria Kuzmova, blowing the Slovakian qualifier out of the water with the 6-0 6-1 win, wildcard Sara Sorribes Tormo had a tough first set against Ons Jabeur but rallied for the 7-6 6-1 victory, and Yulia Putintseva and Maria Sakkari (went head to head in the second longest match of the day, with Putinseva reigning supreme, 6-4 3-6 7-5.

ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated Jil Teichmann (SUI) 6-1 6-1
[Q] Kateryna Kozlova (UKR) defeated [4] Sofia Kenin (USA) 7-5 5-7 6-4
[5] Karolina Pliskova (CZE) defeated [WC] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 6-4 6-4
[7] Kiki Bertens (NED) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-1 6-3
[9] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated [Q] Bernarda Pera (USA) 6-4 6-2
[12] Petra Kvitova (CZE) defeated Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-2 6-4
Iga Swiatek (POL) defeated [13] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 6-3 7-5
[WC] Elisabetta Cocciaretto (ITA) defeated [15] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 5-7 6-1 6-1
Madison Keys (USA) defeated Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-4 6-0
[WC] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) defeated Ons Jabeur (TUN) 7-6 6-1
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) defeated Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 6-4 6-2
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) defeated Alison Riske (USA) 6-3 3-6 6-1
Magda Linette (POL) defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 6-1 6-1
[Q] Caroline Garcia (FRA) defeated [Q] Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK) 6-0 6-1
Sloane Stephens (USA) defeated Heather Watson (GBR) 6-4 6-3
Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) defeated Maria Sakkari (GRE) 6-4 3-6 7-5