Top seed Victoria Azarenka kicked off her Mutua Madrid Open campaign with a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over claycourt specialist Svetlana Kuznetsova who entered the first round match with a 4-2 head-to-head record against the world No.1. Kuznetsova is a very intimidating opponent for an opener, but Azarenka, defeated only two times this season, took the first set in a tiebreak, then the players exchanged breaks in the beginning of the second set, and in the end Azarenka prevented another tiebreak by breaking Kuznetsova for the victory.

Fresh off her high-profile win on Stuttgart clay, second seed Maria Sharapova needed an hour and a minute to win her first encounter with Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0 6-3. It took Sharapova just 21 minutes to win the first set, while in the closer second set a break in the sixth game was enough for her to ensure victory.

Sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki is also through, but after more than three hours of battling against Ksenia Pervak. Final score: 7-6(7) 3-6 6-4. (photo: sr_cranks)

The new blue-colored clay in Madrid didn't receive a warm welcome in the tennis world and on the WTA side fifth-ranked Samantha Stosur criticized it the most referring to it as "pointless", while Serena Williams called it "ridiculous". Maria Sharapova simply uttered "unique". However, players have gathered for the tournament and on Twitter we can see that there are many positive reactions. Let's see what those with positive attitude are saying:

Kuznetsova also showed where all the clay stays: Read more »

For the second year running, Ellesse is the official clothing partner of the May 4th-13th Mutua Madrid Open. This year the Italian brand is working together with French fashion house Surface to Air, bringing a stunning aesthetic to the fashion of ball boys and girls at the Premier tournament, while complementing the new blue clay.

The final rounds will see trained models take over as ball boys and girls, another concept unique to the Madrid tournament. The professional models will be dressed head to toe in the specially designed Ellesse x Surface to Air tenniswear in red, blue and white to fit with the tournament’s image. The kits range from socks, polos, skirts, shorts, jackets and hats, all sitting in perfect harmony with each other and this year’s blue clay courts. The collection will be available in limited quantities.

What do you think of the outfits? I find them glamorous in a classic way, and even though Ellesse might not find my statement favorable, I think it positively reminds of Fila's style. Read more »

World No.6 Li Na won Sydney and reached the final of the Australian Open in the beginning of the year, but then four straight losses followed, all the way to the Stuttgart tournament in the second half of April where she defeated Anastasija Sevastova before losing to Sabine Lisicki in the following round. The 29-year-old Li decided to make changes in her training and replaced her husband Jiang Shan's coaching by Denmark Fed Cup captain Michael Mortensen.

In the above video Mortensen is talking about his strategy for Li. Results of their cooperation are already here – Li reached the semifinals of the $4.5 million Mutua Madrid Open last week (she lost to eventual champion Petra Kvitova).
Here's how the China's first singles Grand Slam finalist commented on the partnership to Reuters:

My confidence was low and I felt I had to change my coach […] I'm not a young player so I know my body and what I can do on the court. We are focusing more on the mental side as I feel I need someone to support me.

At the ongoing tournament in Rome, Li is seeded fourth and after a bye in the first round she will play world No.46 Lourdes Dominguez Lino.

This time last year Petra Kvitova was ranked lower than No.60, while this week at the Mutua Madrid Open the Czech not only earned the introduction to the Top 10 but also her biggest career title by beating Victoria Azarenka in the final of the $4,500,000 Premier-level tournament. Kvitova now has four WTA titles to her name, and three of them came this year (Brisbane, Paris and now Madrid).

In the first set against fourth-seeded Azarenka, Kvitova had a point for a 4-0 lead, but Azarenka came back to level at 3-3. The set slowly progressed to a tiebreak and Kvitova was decisive then. The world No.18 Kvitova started the second set with a break and just like in the first set that advantage did not last and Azarenka leveled at 3-3. The match stayed uncertain until the end, especially when Azarenka saved a match point at 5-3 and held her serve. However, in what was to be the last game of the match, Kvitova was dominant and she stormed to her first Premier title without losing a point in the final game. Score: 7-6(3) 6-4.

Azarenka can console herself with the fact that she will become the highest ranked representative of her country ever, climbing to No.4 in the WTA rankings, and she had a great success in doubles at the Mutua Madrid Open, as together with Maria Kirilenko she beat the Top 3-seeded teams one after another en route to the title. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Julia Goerges may be fatal for world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, but Victoria Azarenka was not frightened by the surging German. The Mutua Madrid Open semifinal between Azarenka and Goerges was the one to watch because they had never played a whole match against each other, and both are hot players in this period, among the favorites for the upcoming Roland Garros. The big-hitting Goerges committed 37 unforced errors and earned only one break point which she didn't convert. Final score: 6-4 6-2.

By virtue of this win, Azarenka will make her country's history and become the first Belarusian to be ranked higher than No.5. Germany's Goerges, the in-form player this clay court season, will also bring a significant improvement to her country's WTA standing – cracking the Top 20 and joining German Andrea Petkovic in the elite.

Azarenka's opponent in the final will be either Li Na or Petra Kvitova, who will as of Monday be a new player in the Top 10. (photo: Tony Osborne)

Victoria Azarenka has reached the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open and needs just one more win to become the first Belarusian in WTA history to be ranked higher than No.5, where she stands now. She advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3 3-6 6-2 victory over Lucie Safarova, to whom she hadn’t lost a set before, in their five meetings.

Azarenka’s big obstacle will be Julia Goerges, who has come to the tournament with the big title win at Stuttgart, which she reinforced by beating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the third round this week and then world No.21 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-2 in the quarterfinals, who is ranked six spots higher than Goerges.

Both Azarenka and Goerges are hot players at the moment. In this two month period, Azarenka has won 18 of 20 matches, including titles in Miami and Marbella, while the losses came only because of injuries (retirements in Indian Wells against Wozniacki and in Stuttgart against Goerges). As for Goerges, not long ago, in Charleston, she reached her first Premier quarterfinal, and now she will play her second straight Premier semifinal. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

Germany’s Julia Goerges reinforced her status of a dark horse for the French Open by defeating world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, one of the favorites for the red clay Grand Slam, for the second time in 11 days.

Wozniacki won the title on the green clay of Charleston, and then on the red clay of Stuttgart she lost in the final to Julia Goerges 7-6(3) 6-3. Goerges, who has consequently climbed five spots in the rankings to a career-high of No.27, repeated the feat of upsetting the top-ranked player, taking Wozniacki out of the Mutua Madrid Open in the third round 6-4 1-6 6-3. The 22-year-old Goerges was much more productive in the department of winners, scoring 36 to Wozniacki’s 11, thus outweighing the 38 unforced errors compared to Wozniacki’s 21.

Goerges’ next opponent will be Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who saw off fifth seed Samantha Stosur 7-6(4) 6-3. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)