Marion Bartoli Upset Again in Barcelona Ladies Open by Magdalena Rybarikova

Tennis Now

For the second tournament in a row, first seed Marion Bartoli fell in the first round, this time to world No. 72 Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-4, 6-1, at the Barcelona Ladies Open on Monday.

Last week, she was upset by Kristina Barrois, which was shocking after she made it to the finals on the hard court of Indian Wells.

The other top seeds went through their first-round matches with ease.

Second seeded Alexandra Dulgheru had her opponent Zuzana Kucova retire at 6-1, 5-0, giving her a second-round match against qualifier Estrella Cabeza Candela (best name ever—Star Head Candle in English) of Spain, who defeated Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-3, 7-5.

The sixth seeded Roberta Vinci dove past her opponent, Spaniard Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-2, 6-3, leading to a matchup against Yaroslava Shvedova.

Other victors were American Jill Craybas and Maria Elena Camerin.

In Estoril, Portugal, first seeded Alisa Kleybanova bounced back from a losing streak to take out her first opponent, Olga Govortsova, in two sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Recently injured American Bethanie Mattek-Sands, the fifth seed, could not make it past the first round in her first clay tournament when she lost to Monica Niculescu 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Sixth seeded Elena Vesnina was victorious in two sets, 6-1, 6-1, against wild card Barbara Luz. 

Other wins included Johanna Larsson, Alla Kudryavtseva, Romina Oprandi and Casey Dellacqua.

Seeded fourth, defending champion Anastasija Sevastova is back to defend her title and will play Urszula Radwanska in the first round.

Tennis Now