Sloane Stephens won a battle of Grand Slam titlists on Monday at the Mutua Madrid Open, beating Victoria Azarenka for the fourth consecutive time to advance to the tournament’s third round, while Petra Kvitova continued her quest for her fourth title in the Spanish capital by beating Kristina Mladenovic in the second round.
After confidently walking through the first set, the eighth-seeded Stephens was broken twice in the second set as the former world No.1 Azarenka, currently ranked 52nd, forced the decider. The two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka wasted two break points at 1-1 and won just 50% of points in her service games in the third set, compared to Stephens’ 71%, as the American recorded a 6-4 2-6 6-2 victory.