Samantha Stosur has started her European claycourt season in style with an upset straight sets win over ninth seed Dominika Cibulkova at the Madrid Open.
Stosur, unseeded after a quiet start to the year, demolished the Australian Open runner-up 6-4 6-0.
It was a successful day for the Australians with Marinko Matosevic also winning his first round match.
Matosevic had lost his final qualifying round match but gained a sport in the main draw after the withdrawal of Novak Djokovic.
He took full advantage, easing to a 6-2 6-2 win over Phillip Kohlschreiber, the German world No.27.
Lleyton Hewitt will take to the clay later on Monday where he’ll play Colombian Santiago Giraldo.
Meanwhile Australian Open champion Li Na avoided a repeat of her shock first round exit at the Madrid Open last year with a 6-1 7-6 (9-7) win over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens.
The world No.2 raced through the opening set, but was forced to save two set points in the second before closing out the match in a tie-break.
“I knew it would never be an easy match and even when I won the first set, she was really fighting a lot in the second,” said the Chinese star.
Next up for Li is a meeting with compatriot Jie Zheng in round two.
“We are from the same country, we know each other well so I’m sure it will be tough,” she added.
Number three seed Agnieszka Radwanska also sealed her place in the last 32 with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 win over Australian Open semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard.
The Canadian put up a strong fight in a tightly contested opening set, but Radwanska’s variety of shot-making allowed her to comfortably take the tie-break.
“Of course I think the tiebreak was the biggest key in that match,” admitted Radwanska.
“I made a couple good shots in the tiebreak and managed to win that. I think that gave me more confidence in the second set and it was a little bit easier.”
The Pole took complete control in the second with an early double break and served the match out to set up a second round clash with Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova.
It was smooth sailing for the seeds on the men’s side as Kei Nishikori, John Isner and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga all secured their passage into round two.
Japan’s Nishikori kept his recent fine form going after winning the Barcelona Open last week with a 6-4 6-4 win over Croatian Ivan Dodig to set up a meeting with Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round.
Ninth seed Isner was characteristically solid on serve as the American wasn’t broken in his 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 win over Russia’s Teymuraz Gabashvili.
Tsonga faced a stiffer test against fellow Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin, but also came through in three sets 6-3 4-6 6-3.
