After surviving qualifying, Simona Waltert also successfully overcomes the first hurdle in the main draw at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid. The player from Graubünden defeated the Ukrainian Alexandra Olijnykowa 7:5, 6:0.
22.04.2026, 19:20
22.04.2026, 19:45
SDA
This is only Waltert's second victory on the WTA Tour this year. The 25-year-old had never won a match at a tournament in the 1000 category before.
With the two-set victory against Olijnykowa, who is ranked 27 positions higher, the world number 97 from Switzerland secured herself a duel with Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in the second round. The 2017 French Open winner is currently ranked 40th in the world.
A second Swiss player, Belinda Bencic (WTA 12), will be competing at the clay court tournament in the Spanish capital. After a walk-through in the starting round, the player from eastern Switzerland will start the tournament on Thursday against Croatia's Petra Marcinko (WTA 74).
