After beating the German Friedsam in three sets, she will play the Tunisian Jabeur in the second round
Pedro Martínez and Jaume Munar, goodbye in their debut
MADRID, 11 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa made her debut with victory this Wednesday in the tournament in Rome, the WTA 1,000 event that is played on clay, by beating (4-6, 6-2 and 7-6 (2)) the German Anna-Lena Friedsam , while in the ATP Masters 1,000 the Spanish Pedro Martínez and Jaume Munar said goodbye.
Badosa, who is currently ranked 35th in the WTA ranking, prevailed in a long duel of 2 hours and 38 minutes at the Grand Stand Arena and which ended at dawn. Showing at times the firmness of her good feelings at the recent Mutua Madrid Open, the Catalan also left some doubts against an adversary who is ranked No. 88 in the world.
Although he broke his opponent’s serve as soon as the game started, consolidating it without excessive problems, Badosa gave up his serve in the fourth game and later in the tenth, victim of certain inaccuracies that cost him having to come back if he wanted to access the next round.
In fact, it served as an incentive to break Friedsam twice in a row at the beginning of the second set (3-0) and leave her on track, leading the fight to a third set where both tennis players exhibited mettle to save ‘break’ balls in key moments. The Catalan broke in the seventh, but did not consolidate it and the ‘tie-break’ was already smelled.
In this final instance, the Spanish barely left room for surprise and sealed her ticket to the second round 7-2, where she will face off against the powerful Tunisian Ons Jabeur. Located at number 7 in the world ranking, Jabeur reappears on the WTA circuit after missing the Madrid tournament due to a muscle injury and against Badosa she has a 3-1 against in direct duels.
In the men’s draw there was no good news for Spanish tennis with the first round eliminations of Pedro Martínez and Munar. The Valencian lost to Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (4), despite a good match against the rest in which he gave up too many break options and a set point in the second.
For his part, Munar, for the first time in the main draw in the Italian capital, said goodbye to a Thanasi Kokkinakis whom he beat last week at the Mutua Madrid Open. In the Caja Mágica the match ended with a pique and victory for a Munar who would reach the round of 16. The second assault had no history because the Spaniard, after a stoppage due to rain, withdrew with 4-2 against.