Belinda Bencic and Fiona Ferro got off to winning starts at the Mutua Madrid Open Virtual Pro in which they have both been drawn in Group 1 of the WTA competition.

In the first of three pool matches, in which players will play sets up to three games, which are decided by a traditional tiebreak if they reach 3-3, Bencic and Ferro saw off Carla Suárez Navarro and Karolina Pliskova respectively in a competition played on PlayStation’s Tennis World Tour.

Bencic looked particularly sharp in her opening encounter against Suárez Navarro as she timed the ball well and seemed to have an edge in terms of her quality, as the Spaniard struggled to return serve.

The Swiss raced into a 2-0 lead, and though her opponent rallied impressively in the third, which she sealed with a couple of aces down the 'T', the match ultimately went the way of the 23-year-old, who has a 1-1 head-to-head record against her opponent on the WTA Tour.

Meanwhile, World No.53 Ferro put on a clinic against Pliskova as she stormed to a 3-0 win over the former World No.1.

Pliskova timed her serves impressively but was unable to make inroads against the Frenchwoman, who looked at home on the console version of the game as she took the early lead in the division.

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The charity competition sees 32 players compete in two draws of 16, one for men and another for women. There are four groups of four players who are competing in a round-robin format, with the top two progressing to a knockout round.

Much of the money raised by the event is set to be channelled towards lower-ranked players who have been financially trouble by the outbreak, which has caused the tour to be put on hold until mid-July at the earliest.

Tennis United Episode 3