Madrid, April 24 -- Top seed and reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka won her opening match in the Madrid Open, defeating Peyton Stearns 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round.
Sabalenka struggled to get on top in the opening set, before finally moving 6-5 ahead and then closing out the set in the next game, while the second set was more straightforward on Thursday.
Fourth seed Iga Swiatek had no problems in her second round tie against Daria Snigur of Ukraine, winning 6-1, 6-2, and Switzerland's 11th seeded Belinda Bencic also breezed through 6-4, 6-2 against Petra Marcinko, but there was a surprise when No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina went out 6-3, 6-4 to Anna Bondar of Hungary, as Svitolina struggled to get her serve working effectively.
Eighth se...