Madrid, Spain (Sports Network) - Reigning champion Petra Kvitova and
former world No. 1 star Serena Williams were a pair of first-round winners,
while Venus Williams was sent packing in the second round Monday at the $5.189
million Madrid Open.
The third-seeded Czech lefthander Kvitova drilled New Zealand's Marina
Erakovic 6-2, 6-3, while a ninth-seeded Serena drubbed Russian Elena Vesnina
6-3, 6-1 on the unusual blue clay surface at The Magic Box.
Serena swatted 14 aces and did not allow even one break point chance for
Vesnina, who was a runner-up in Budapest last week.
Kvitova, who also was last year's Wimbledon titlist, defeated this week's
top seed, Victoria Azarenka, in last year's marquee Madrid finale.
Up next for the formidable Kvitova will be fellow Czech Lucie Hradecka, while
Serena will encounter another Russian opponent, Russian Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova, here on Wednesday.
The wild card Venus was whipped by surging 12th-seeded German Angelique Kerber
6-4, 6-1. Venus failed to fire even one ace and had her serve broken a
whopping six times on Day 3.
Kerber is a two-time titlist on tour this year, while the 2010 Madrid runner-
up and former top-ranked Venus was appearing in only her third event of 2012
and is now 8-3 for the season.
Another former No. 1 came up a loser on Day 3, as surging Spanish wild card
Carla Suarez Navarro knocked out 15th-seeded Serbian star Jelena Jankovic 4-6,
7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the first round. Suarez is fresh off her clay-court runner-
up finish in Estoril last week.
In another second-round affair, Czech Petra Cetkovska dismissed Spanish
favorite Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 7-5.
Last week's Budapest titlist Sara Errani of Italy stayed hot with a 4-6, 6-2,
6-3 victory over South African Chanelle Scheepers, while last week's Estoril
champ Kaia Kanepi exited Madrid Monday with a 6-4, 6-4 setback at the hands of
Czech Lucie Safarova in round one.
Other opening-round winners were Czech qualifiers Hradecka and Andrea
Hlavackova and Russian Ekaterina Makarova. Hlavackova is rewarded with
a second-round bout against the current world No. 1 Azarenka on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday's schedule are former world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and
Caroline Wozniacki, who was the Madrid runner-up in 2009. Sharapova upset
Azarenka in a final in Stuttgart two weeks ago.
This year's Madrid Open winner will earn $830,500.
The Sports Network