Fifth seed and world number three Venus Williams went down to Alisa Kleybanova 6-3 3-6 7-5 in the second round of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic also played on Tuesday, but the Serb was victorious against world number 39 Daniela Hantuchova.
The 19- year-old Kleybanova fired seven aces and broke Williams’ serve seven times in the match that lasted two hours and 12 minutes. The world No.26 Kleybanova, who is yet to win a WTA singles title, is now 1-1 with Williams in head-to-head statistics.
Remember? The Russian scored her first Top 10 win at this year’s Australian Open by upsetting Ana Ivanovic.
Jankovic beat Hantuchova 7-5 6-2. The Slovak was a tough opponent in the first set, but failed to convert any of seven break points in the second. Also advancing was seed No.9 Caroline Wozniacki, who had little trouble in seeing off Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-1.
Besides Venus Williams, one more seed fell on Tuesday: No.15 seed Zheng Jie lost 6-2 7-5 to Amelie Mauresmo in the second round. (photo by our reader Bobby)
There’s another upset. Svetlana Kuznetsova lost in her first match against the “younger Bondarenko”, Alyona Bondarenko in straight sets. How embarrassing for her. For a second I thought she’s back.
“For a second” hahah. Well, it was more than a second, Teerin, don’t be so harsh on Svetlana. 🙂 I’ve just written a post about it, and when you look at the stats, Kuznetsova had lost both clay matches against Bondarenko, plus this third one. So, it may not be that big a surprise.
By the way, it’s interesting how you wrote her name “Alyona”, as it’s actually pronounced that way (although many people don’t know that), but it’s kind of a convention to write it Alona.
It is important to consider also the fatigue that Kuznetsova must be feeling after two great but tiring weeks!
I can’t wait for Roland Garros!