Badosa and Halep in showdown after easy wins
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MADRID • World No. 2 Paula Badosa set up a second-round clash with two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep tomorrow, after the pair made light work of their first-round encounters at the Madrid Open.
Home favourite Badosa won the last nine games to see off 25th-ranked Russian Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-0.
Earlier, Halep saw off China's 40th-ranked Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 to set up her first career meeting with the 24-year-old Spaniard.
The 30-year-old Romanian, a former world No. 1, recently revealed she came close to retiring last year after injury forced her to miss the French Open, Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics.
Absent from the draw in Madrid is world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who withdrew with a shoulder injury.
On Wednesday, she called for the governing bodies of tennis to unite in their decisions regarding the involvement of Russian and Belarusian players at tournaments, to avoid the "chaos" created by Wimbledon's unilateral move to ban them from this summer's Championships in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Belarus' complicity in the conflict.
The 20-year-old Pole has been vocal in her support for Ukraine and has been wearing a ribbon with the country's colours during her matches.
"The situation is getting like more and more chaotic," Swiatek told reporters at the Madrid Open after announcing her withdrawal.
"It would be nice to have all these bodies making the proper decision, so that we're not going to have that kind of chaos. I feel like people are expecting players to make the decision, but it's hard for us because we know these people... We are spending so much time on tour that it feels like we're family."
She did not state whether she believes Wimbledon's decision is correct and felt she is not qualified enough to weigh in on the matter in a definitive way.
What has been definitive is her domination of women's tennis since former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty's retirement last month.
The 2020 French Open champion is on a 23-match winning run and became the first player to win the first three WTA 1000 events of the season when she triumphed in Qatar, Indian Wells and Miami.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MADRID OPEN
Day 2 (StarHub TV Ch201, 5pm)
