World No. 6 Anett Kontaveit and Angelique Kerber have both withdrawn from Madrid.
Madrid update
OUT: Kontaveit, Kerber
IN: Konjuh, Siniakova
NEXT: Alexandrova
— Entry List Updates Women (@EntryListsWomen) April 25, 2022
Kontaveit, 26, won’t be making her fifth Madrid appearance this year.
Kontaveit made her Madrid debut in 2017, when she won two qualifying matches to make the main draw before losing to CoCo Vandeweghe in the first round.
The following year, Kontaveit reached the Madrid round-of-16 before losing to Petra Kvitova.
Kontaveit didn’t impress in her last two Madrid appearances, having suffered a first round defeat in 2019 and a second round exit last year, respectively.
On the other side, 34-year-old Kerber won’t be making her ninth Madrid this year.
Kerber’s best Madrid run came in 2013, when she made the quarterfinal before losing to Ana Ivanovic.
Kerber is currently dealing with a cold but he should be ready to return to action in Rome.
Angelique Kerber withdrew from Madrid because of a cold. Her participation in Rome should not be at risk. https://t.co/X0oCMyLvhP
— Nikolaus Fink (@NikolausFink) April 25, 2022
Kontaveit defeated Kerber in Stuttgart
Both Kontaveit and Kerber kicked off their clay season in Stuttgart last week.
Kerber made a good start to the match versus Kontaveit but the Estonian stormed back to beat the German 3-6 6-4 6-4 and progress into the round-of-16.
It was Kontaveit’s 21st consecutive indoor win.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a clay specialist. My style of play is aggressive and suits other surfaces more. But it makes the game more interesting, that different people have different advantages. So I like that there are surface changes throughout the year,” Kontaveit said after beating Kerber.
Kontaveit then beat Ekaterina Alexandrova to win her 22nd consecutive indoors match, before losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the quaterfinal.
“I’m aware of it because of social media. But these tournaments are so strong and every match is a huge challenge. When I step on the court I don’t think ‘Oh, we’re indoors now so I’m going to beat everyone (laughs),” Kontaveit said of her astonishing indoors streak before it came to an end.
Hopefully both Kontaveit and Kerber return to action in Rome.