Maria Sharapova
British number one Johanna Konta was knocked out in the Madrid Open first round by Laura Siegemund in the early hours of Sunday morning, while Maria Sharapova defeated Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni to advance to the second round.
Konta took the first set 6-3. However, Siegemund battled back to take her winning streak to six matches, four of which have come against top 10 players, by taking the final two sets 7-5, 6-4.
Johanna Konta
Sharapova, set up a potential mouth-watering second-round clash with Eugenie Bouchard, who registered her first win since Australian Open over France’s Alize Cornet 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.
Bouchard had called Sharapova “a cheater” and suggested the Russian should be banned for life after failing dope test.
Meanwhile, world number two Angelique Kerber eased into round two with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory over Hungary’s Timea Babos in just over an hour on court.