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Karolina Muchova continued her strong 2023 season with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anett Kontaveit to reach the second round of the Madrid Open on Tuesday.
After suffering abdominal and ankle problems in 2022, the former World No.19 is making a comeback this year. She has already reached the WTA 1000 quarterfinals in Dubai and Indian Wells, and her overall 2023 record is presently 16-5 (14-5 in WTA main events). Muchova had a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over Kontaveit, having defeated her at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2019. She kept her unbeaten record intact with a strong performance, hitting 18 wins to 14 unforced errors and executing several of her hallmark drop shots. Kontaveit's rust was evident as she accumulated 20 unforced errors to only nine wins. Following a dropped serve in the first game, the 27-year-old's best passage of play came when she broke back and held to take a 2-1 lead. Muchova, on the other hand, replied by winning seven straight games to take a 2-0 lead in the second set and cruised to victory. She will face No.31 seed Irina-Camelia Begu next. Another notable early winner at the fourth WTA 1000 event of the year was Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Cocciaretto defeated former World No.16 Barbora Strycova 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the second round, where she will face No.26 seed Paula Badosa. Strycova, 37, was playing her first match since the 2021 Australian Open and her first child, Vincent, in September of that year. She showed early signs of her classic inventive form, and fought hard to force a tiebreak from 5-2 down in the second set. But No.50-ranked Cocciaretto was too strong, with the 22-year-old Italian's forehand crucial in converting her fourth match point. (ANI)
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