Sara Sorribes completed this Friday the full of Spanish victories in the first round of the women’s draw of the Mutua Madrid Open. To yesterday’s wins by Paula Badosa and Nuria Párrizas, and today’s by Garbiñe Muguruza, that of Sorribes was added, who beat the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 2-6 and 6-3. Today’s is the fifth win in the Castellón native’s career against a top-15 player (Pavlyuchenkova is number 15 in the WTA ranking and a finalist at Roland Garros 2021), and this makes possible something that has not been seen in Madrid since 2018: four Spanish players in the second round of the tournament.
Of his six appearances in the final frame, this was the only one in which Sorribes arrived without having to play the previous one. In front, a rival full of experience in Madrid, and that is that Pavlyuchenkova has played this tournament 13 times, the most in this edition. She did not weigh this fact to the Spanish. In the first set, achieved five service breaks (The Russian scored three more). The inaccuracy of both with their serve was evident, and Sorribes reigned in this chaoswho only needed to win a service to sign up for the sleeve.
The script was different in the second set. Pavlyuchenkova improved on her serve, and two breaks on Sorribes’ first two serves paved the way for the Russian to step up the game. However, she soon ran out of gas. Today’s was the first game that Pavlyuchenkova played since last January 22, and fatigue took its toll on the third and final set. Sorribes, very firm, was placed at 5-0 and knew how to contain a small reaction from his rival.
You already know what it’s like to beat Osaka
In the second round, the one from Castellón will face Naomi Osaka. The Japanese, which also premiered today in Madrid, beat the Russian Potapova, who came from winning in Istanbul last week. Osaka, winner of four Grand Slams, sentenced the match 6-3 and 6-1 in just one hour, and showed a good letter of introduction on clay, a surface where she has never been dominant.
Sunday’s will be fourth confrontation between Sorribes and Osaka. In the first of them (Wimbledon 2017), Osaka comfortably won in straight sets. The second was in 2019, precisely in Madrid. There, the Spanish took the Japanese, top seed at the time, to the third set, where Osaka closed the match with a donut. That 6-0 was returned by Sorribes in what, to date, is the last duel between the two players. It was in 2020, at the Billie Jean King Cup, where Sara won by a convincing 6-0 and 6-3 in one of the triumphs of her career. “I don’t think Sunday is the same, she wasn’t very successful that day, I missed very few balls. It will be a different match, she has gone through different and complicated situations, she comes here with some energy and fresh air. I am also a better player than at that time, hopefully it will be a tough battle and I can have my options”, analyzed at a Sorribes press conference.
Results of the Mutua Madrid Open WTA