Five best things we saw today, beginning with Quevedo's first WTA 1000 win

Author: Noah Poser

5m read 21 Apr 2026 3d ago

Summary

With the conclusion of qualifying and the start of first-round play taking place Tuesday at the Muta Madrid Open, there was no shortage of action. Kaitlin Quevedo beating Venus Williams was the big story, but certainly not the only one.

highlights

Linette advances past Montgomery to Madrid second round

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Kaitlin Quevedo earned her first WTA 1000 main-draw win and just the second tour-level victory of her career Tuesday in Madrid, defeating Venus Williams 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 43 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium.

Madrid: Scores | Draws | Order of play

"I was so surprised," Quevedo said in her on-court interview. "I didn't know that was going to happen. I'm just really happy that I was able to play against such a legend on this amazing court for the first time. It was a privilege, and I'm just really happy to be here."

With the win, the 20-year-old became the youngest Spanish player to win a main-draw match at the Mutua Madrid Open, edging Garbine Muguruza (20 years, 209 days) in 2014. Since the tournament's debut in 2009, Quevedo is also the lowest-ranked player (No. 140) to defeat a current or former World No. 1 at the event.

She is the first player to beat a current or former World No. 1 in her first Tier I/WTA 1000 match since the format was introduced in 1990.

Those milestones came on a day when Quevedo looked like the clear frontrunner against the 45-year-old Williams.

Quevedo opened with a backhand winner to break the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion in the first game, then added a forehand winner to break again for a 3-0 lead. Williams broke back for 3-1, but Quevedo responded immediately with a third break and closed out the set comfortably.

Williams turned the tables early in the second set, racing ahead 3-0. But Quevedo reeled off 11 straight points to erase the deficit and level at 3-all. After a brief delay to close the roof because of rain, Williams saved two break points in the next game, but a touch of brilliance from Quevedo in a back-and-forth exchange ended with her earning a third chance, and this time she converted for a 4-3 lead.

With Carla Suarez Navarro looking on, Quevedo won her fifth straight game and moments later served out the match to reach the second round, where she will face No. 30 seed Hailey Baptiste. Aside from representing Spain, Quevedo shares another connection with Suarez Navarro: her father was born in the Canary Islands, same as the former World No. 6.

Home soil debut win 💚

Kaitlin Quevedo moves past Williams in straight sets 6-2, 6-4!#MMOpen pic.twitter.com/70O1TliNvc
— wta (@WTA) April 21, 2026

For Williams, the loss extends her skid to 10 straight matches, the longest losing streak of her career. Quevedo is the youngest player she has faced (born 2006); the previous youngest was Celine Naef (born 2005), who beat Williams at 's-Hertogenbosch in 2023.

"I felt like in the last game I started to move better on the clay," Williams said in her post-match press conference. "But then it was the last game (laughing). All these things take adjustments. I started my practice on clay a couple weeks after Miami. I haven't really played on clay in years. But I enjoy the clay, it's fun. I played against a very inspired opponent today."

Despite the early exit in singles, she will take part in doubles with Katie Boulter.

"She asked me to play, or her coach did," Williams said. "I would like to think she asked me to play, and I was happy to say yes (laughing). She's got great energy. She's got a great attitude. She's a fighter. I'm looking forward to playing with her because I think our energies will really match."

Another example of youth trumping experience as Samson outduels Maria

Youth won out over experience earlier in the day as well, as 18-year-old wild card Laura Samson defeated 38-year-old Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-2. The mother of two might need a break from the tour's kids: it was the second time this year that she has faced an opponent born in 2008 -- and the second time she's lost. She also fell 6-3, 6-3 to Emerson Jones in Brisbane in January. Both Samson and Jones are closer in age to Maria's 12-year-old daughter, Charlotte, than to Maria herself.

For Samson, it marked her first WTA 1000 victory and her first tour-level win since reaching the 2024 Prague semifinals on her debut. The Czech teenager, currently at a career-high ranking of No. 171, executed a sharp, proactive game plan against Maria, winning 23 of 37 net points compared with her opponent's 11 of 21. She will face No. 28 seed Wang Xinyu in the second round.

Bouzas Maria makes quick work of Haddad Maia on home soil

Quevedo wasn't the only home favorite to score a victory Tuesday. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro became the first Spaniard to win her opening matches in her first three main-draw appearances at the Mutua Madrid Open since the tournament's inception, defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour and 14 minutes on Manolo Santana Stadium. If she can upset No. 18 seed Diana Shnaider in the second round, it would mark her first trip past the Round of 64 at this event.

"It is super special here," Bouzas Maneiro said in her on-court interview. "It is actually one of my favorite tournaments because I feel all the love from the crowd. I am really excited every year and very happy to win on this amazing court."

Grabher gets revenge ten years in the making against Badosa

Tuesday marked the first meeting between Julia Grabher and Paula Badosa in 10 years; their only previous professional encounter came at an ITF event in Brescia in 2016, a match Badosa won. This time, it was Grabher who came out on top, defeating the Spaniard 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-0 in 2 hours and 32 minutes.

It wasn't Grabher's sharpest performance -- she finished with 39 unforced errors to 23 winners and won less than half of her service points -- but she capitalized on Badosa's uneven play. The former World No. 2 tallied 44 unforced errors to 19 winners and hit 12 double faults), struggles that proved costly in both the first-set tiebreak and the decider. Grabher will face No. 24 seed Leylah Fernandez in the second round.

Stearns drops four games to beat Boisson in Frenchwoman's return

Peyton Stearns reached the fourth round in Madrid last year, and she began her push to match -- or better -- that result Tuesday with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Lois Boisson in 65 minutes. Stearns finished with 18 winners to 14 unforced errors as Boisson, the breakout player of last year's clay season, was making her return to competition after being sidelined since September.

"She's an amazing player," Stearns said in her on-court interview. "Last year she had a great clay season. She's been out for a while and it's never easy to come back, so kudos to her. She's a strong player and today's performance didn't show that from her, but I feel like on my end I did a great job, looked to my forehand and kind of grinded it out."