Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic kept up her strong start to 2023 with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Anett Kontaveit in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain on Tuesday.
Muchova won 70.6 percent of her first serves and broke Estonia’s Kontaveit five times in nine opportunities to roll into the next round. Kontaveit, also working on a return from a back injury, produced just nine winners against 20 unforced errors on the clay.
Muchova improved to 3-0 against Kontaveit.
“I spin it more, she goes for it, she goes fast,” Muchova told tennis.com afterward. “She made more mistakes that helped me for sure. I tried to play my game and it kind of worked.”
Muchova improved to 14-5 in main draws this year after battling abdominal and ankle injuries in 2022.
“From the start I was a little bit struggling and sliding. It’s a different clay than we have in Prague, where I was practicing,” Muchova said. “I’m really glad that I managed to win it in two sets.”
Muchova has a date with No. 31 Irina Camelia Begu of Romania in the second round.
Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto spoiled the return of Czech Barbora Strycova 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Strycova, 37, was playing in her first match since the 2021 Australian Open after giving birth to a son in September 2021. Strycova fought back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set, but Cocciaretto clinched the win on her fourth match point.
In the marathon match of the day, Romanian Ana Bogdan rallied to defeat Anna Bondar of Hungary 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in three hours and one minute.
Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan also opened with a win, defeating Claire Liu 6-4, 6-4. Putintseva draws fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France in the next round.
Linda Fruhvirtova of Czech Republic advanced with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Katie Volynets.
Also, Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska needed just 58 minutes to beat Sofia Kenin 6-0, 6-3. Canadian Rebecca Marino advanced with a 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over Lin Zhu of China. Sorana Cirstea of Romania was a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Lauren Davis. Germany’s Jule Niemeier handled China’s Xinyu Wang 6-4, 6-2.
–Field Level Media