Wozniacki and Muguruza make early exits in Madrid

Published by AAP / Tennismash

Caroline Wozniacki returns to Kiki Bertens at the Caja Magica; Getty Images

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki’s bid to reclaim the world No.1 ranking this week ended when she lost to 20th-ranked Kiki Bertens in the third round of the Madrid Open.

Bertens, who reached the 2016 French Open semi-finals, beat the 27-year-old Dane 6-2 6-2 in an hour to claim the biggest scalp of her career.

“I was going out there and almost every shot was in,” Bertens told wtatour.com.

“I hit drive volleys, dropshots, almost every shot. That’s not a normal day for me! Hopefully I can have a few more days like this here.”

Denmark’s Wozniacki had to win the Madrid title to overhaul Simona Halep in the top spot but her defeat means the Romanian will retain first place.

Bertens’ will next face five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, who beat Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-3 6-4.

“I just felt like I did the right things,” said Sharapova. “Despite a slow start, I was still very positive. I still felt like I was doing the right things out there, and continued to do so.”

Third seed Garbine Muguruza was another leading name to suffer as she went down 6-2 4-6 6-3 to Russia’s Daria Kasatkina.

“I am disappointed, but in comparison with other years that I felt in Madrid, this year I’m very happy because I feel like I really gave everything I had over there,” Muguruza said. “I felt good. It’s just that Kasatkina played better today.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Halep strolled into the quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-4 win over Czech Kristyna Pliskova.

Halep, the two-time defending champion, struck 20 winners and broke Pliskova’s serve three times as she extended her winning streak in the Spanish capital to 15 straight matches.

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After conceding the opener in 29 minutes, Pliskova produced a better second set but failed to deliver consistently as Halep saved all five of the break points she faced.

“I think she served much better (in the second set) and I couldn’t do much with the return,” Halep said.

“But I served well, too. I feel like it was a very good match, the hardest here. She has improved a lot since last year, we played together here, and she was a different player.”

Halep will next face Kristyna’s twin sister Karolina Pliskova, who raced past American Sloane Stephens 6-2 6-3 for her eighth successive victory.

Petra Kvitova was another to continue a remarkable run with a 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 win over Anett Kontaveit – the Czech’s eighth win in a row.

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