On April 24, Beijing time, at the 2024 WTA1000 Madrid Station, except for Zheng Qinwen, the No. 6 seed of the tournament who had a bye in the first round, the remaining 5 golden flowers collectively played in the first round of singles. In addition, the first round of doubles has been released.
In the first round of the main draw that ended in the early hours of this morning, the 23-year-old Jinhua Wang Xiyu took the lead against Romanian player Bogdan, and after an hour and 21 minutes of fierce battle, Wang Xiyu finally won 6-7(5)/7-6(4)/6-2 to achieve the first victory of this year's clay season. Wang Xiyu held a 5-1 lead in the first set, but was chased to a tie-break, and then she wasted a 5-2 lead in the tie-break to lose the first set. In the second set, Wang Xiyu broke serve first to take a 3-1 lead, but she then dropped three games in a row to save a match point when she was down 4-5 to drag the second set into a tie-break and pull one back 7-6(4). China's Jinhua maintained the lead all the way in the deciding set, and sealed the victory 6-2 with three breaks, playing a "thrilling script" to win hard.
Wang Xiyu will challenge world No. 1 Swiatek in the second round, which will be the first meeting between the two. Swiatek lost to Rybakina in the semi-finals at last week's WTA 500 Stuttgart, missing out on a third consecutive title. Another Chinese player, Bai Zhuoxuan, lost to Belek 4-6, 6-1, 3-6 in the final round of qualifying.
1. Zhu Lin vs Kasintseva
Zhu Lin, who stopped in the first round last year, faced 18-year-old Andorran player Kasintseva in the first round this year, ranking only 335th in the world. The two sides have not played each other before.
2. Yuan Yue vs Putintseva
This is Yuan Yue's first time participating in the 1000 Madrid event, and she will face Kazakhstan's Putintseva in the first round, ranking 50th in the world. The two sides had previously met once in Hobart at the beginning of the year, with Yuan Yue winning 7-5, 7-6(4).
3. Zhang Shuai vs Rogers
Veteran Zhang Shuai faced American Rogers in the first round, ranked 352nd in the world, and the two sides met once in 2019, Zhang Shuai lost 0-2. Looking forward to Zhang Shuai's end of the losing streak in this event.
4. Wang Xinyu vs Tomova
Wang Xinyu, who stopped in the first round last year, faced Bulgaria's Tomova in the first round this year, ranked 81st in the world, and the two sides have met twice before, winning one in each game and equally.
5. Wang Yafan vs Dorahid
Wang Yafan, ranked 71st in the world, faced Doreheid of the United States in the first round, ranking 56th in the world. The two sides met once last year, and Wang Yafan lost 0-2.
Judging from the first-round matchup of the 5 Golden Flowers, except for Yuan Yue and Wang Yafan, the strength of the other Golden Flower opponents is average, and it is expected that the Golden Flower can successfully pass the first round of the test.
In addition, in the doubles field, the first round of Chinese Jinhua matchups was released, Xu Yifan/Watson vs Karenina/Yastremska, Guo Hanyu/Jiang Xinyu vs Zhan Haoqing/Kudermetova, Wang Xinyu/Zheng Saisai vs Niculescu/Parkes, Zhang Shuai/Linette vs Scholes/Stephanie.