Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and her doubles partner Darija Jurak of Croatia on Saturday defeated Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu 2-6, 6-4, 10-8 to advance to the second round of the Madrid Masters.
The Taiwanese-Croatian duo struggled to find their form in the first set, but came back stronger in the second and third to claim the victory in 1 hour, 28 minutes on the clay court.
“We turned it around!” Chuang wrote on Facebook after the match.
Photo: Courtesy of Chuang Chia-jung’s Facebook page
“In the first set we just could not find our rhythm. We were all over the place,” she said. “In the second set we concentrated on each and every ball. We got our rhythm back, and things improved. In the third set, we settled down more. Our opponents got nervous, so we were able to win.”
Chuang and Jurak next face Switzerland’s Martina Hingis and India’s Sania Mirza, who had a bye in round one.
Chuang won her first WTA Tour doubles title of the year and the 22nd of her career at the Dubai Tennis Championships in February.
In the women’s singles, Sara Errani lost in the first round for the third time this season, losing 7-5, 7-5 to Camila Giorgi.
The 15th-seeded Errani was broken seven times in the all-Italian match. She had already been defeated in the first round at the Australian Open and in Brisbane, but was coming off a semi-final appearance in Charleston.
Also on Saturday, 12th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated Yanina Wickmayer of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
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