No.37-ranked Anhelina Kalinina continued her strong season in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open, posting the first Top 10 win of her career 6-3, 6-0 over No.7 seed Garbiñe Muguruza.
Earlier, Bianca Andreescu's comeback had gathered pace with a dominating 6-1, 6-1 win over No.5 seed Danielle Collins in just 69 minutes to reach the third round.
Five things to know about Anhelina Kalinina
Kalinina was ranked No.165 this time last year, but the former US Open junior finalist has begun consistently delivering on her teenage promise over the past 12 months. Last summer, she compiled two separate 14-match winning streaks, the second of which took her into her first WTA final in Budapest.
This year, the Ukrainian has already reached the fourth round of Miami and the quarterfinals in Charleston, where she upset Elena Rybakina for her first Top 20 win. In Madrid, she had already taken out Sloane Stephens in her opener; and against Muguruza on the Spaniard's home soil, Kalinina was ruthless as she sped to victory in 1 hour and 21 minutes. She will face either No.9 seed Emma Raducanu or compatriot Marta Kostyuk with a quarterfinal place on the line.
Muguruza's subpar record at her home WTA 1000 event continues. The former World No.1 has reached the third round just once, in 2018, in eight main-draw appearances.
Brilliant play from 🇺🇦 Kalinina, who snatches the first set off No. 7 seed Muguruza, 6-3!#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/lCAFd2R22V
— wta (@WTA) May 1, 2022
Match management: Kalinina dominated in every statistical category, firing 26 winners to Muguruza's eight and winning 74% of her first serve points compared to her opponent's 56%. Clubbing her heavy groundstrokes with intent and finding particular joy by wrong-footing Muguruza, Kalinina was in control of the majority of baseline exchanges.
The 25-year-old also passed the match's mental tests with flying colours. She saved all six break points that she faced: four to edge out to 4-1, and two more as she came through a nervy game to serve out the first set.
Kalinina maintained the upper hand by taking another multi-deuce tussle at the start of the second set when Muguruza double faulted facing her fourth break point of the game. The two-time major champion took an off-court medical timeout when trailing 3-0, won just four more points on resumption.
In Kalinina's words: "I didn't expect the score was going to be like this. I was just very focused, even during the match I was not thinking about the score. In the first set I felt a little bit of pressure - it was very tough with a few balls, but when I closed the set I felt much more confident.
"I'm getting much more matches than in previous years, so I'm getting a lot more experience. The more you play with these top players, the more you feel you are at home. Last year I was playing mostly ITF tournaments so for me, it was important to get to the Top 100."
Andreescu claims first Top 10 win on clay
In Andreescu's fourth match back from her six-month mental health hiatus, and the ninth WTA main draw contest of her career on clay, the Canadian claimed her first Top 10 win since defeating Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open final, and the first of her career off hard courts.
Highlights: Andreescu d. Collins | Pegula d. Kanepi
Ranked No.111 coming into Madrid, former World No.5 Andreescu is guaranteed to return to the Top 100 next week. She will face No.12 seed Jessica Pegula in a bid to reach her first quarterfinal since Strasbourg last year after the American defeated Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 in minutes. Andreescu is the fifth-lowest ranked player to score a Top 10 win in 2022.
Lowest-ranked players to defeat a Top 10 opponent in 2022
No.409 Daria Saville d. No.10 Ons Jabeur 7-5, 6-7(0), 6-4, Indian Wells R2
No.231 Laura Siegemund d. No.5 Maria Sakkari 6-4, 3-1 ret., Stuttgart R2
No.146 Dayana Yastremska d. No.3 Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-6(3), Dubai R2
No.115 Kaia Kanepi d. No.2 Aryna Sabalenka 5-7, 6-2, 7-6[7], Australian Open R4
No.111 Bianca Andreescu d. No.8 Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-1, Madrid R2
Match management: Both players hit the ground running in the first-time encounter, slamming a series of spectacular winners in the first two games. But Andreescu's combination of supreme defence and aggressive returning enabled her to get the upper hand over Collins with a break for 2-1, and the American's form evaporated.
Andreescu raced through nine straight games as Collins racked up the unforced errors - 33 in total, compared to Andreescu's nine. The Australian Open runner-up had her chances to get back into the match at the start of the second set, but Andreescu extended her lead with clutch play on big points to win three straight multi-deuce tussles. In this stretch, Collins was unable to convert six game points.
Four winners in one game enabled Collins to break the Andreescu serve and get on the scoreboard for 4-1, but this flash of quality was brief. Consecutive double faults paved the way to another concession of her serve, and Andreescu sealed her third match point with a service winner.
Head to Head
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Andreescu on her performance: "I knew I had to put on a very good performance because she's been doing very well recently; I did not expect for it to go like that at all. But I stuck to my gameplan and it worked.
"What I did well today is, I stayed in the present moment and told myself it's not over til it's over, even at 6-1, 4-1. She started hitting the ball harder and sometimes it would go in, sometimes it wouldn't. But what she did was very smart because that in turn put pressure on me. If I didn't hold my ground she probably would've gotten back into the match. It's quite a big court, so it's easy to step back. But I had that mentality of staying in the court."
Andreescu on getting back into the zone: "I've been trying to find my way back, and we were talking the other day about how I hope it doesn't take too many matches. I was happy I was able to get in that zone again and I found all the tics that helped me in my previous matches. It really helps, even little things like touching the line or hitting your shoes with the racquet, it helps a lot.
"[In terms of patterns], when I'm looking for my forehand, I'm running around and being aggressive, putting pressure from the start with my return, with my serve. All the starting-the-point situations, like serve wide and make her run to the other side."
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