Daria Kasatkina’s return to European tennis under the Australian flag ended early at the Madrid Open, as she was defeated by her former Russian teammate Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday.
Kasatkina, playing in just her second tournament since switching allegiance to Australia, struggled on the clay despite her past success on the surface. Nine double faults and an inconsistent serve made the difference in a scrappy match that featured 11 breaks of serve.
Alexandrova, who helped Russia win the Billie Jean King Cup alongside Kasatkina in 2021, showed her improved clay-court form. The 30-year-old has reached back-to-back semifinals this season in Charleston and Stuttgart and held her nerve in the crucial tiebreak to seal the win in just over 90 minutes.
The loss will sting for Kasatkina, who has enjoyed deep runs at the French Open before, including a semifinal appearance in 2022. She’ll be hoping to rediscover her best form before Roland Garros next month.
Elsewhere, there were several surprises at the Madrid Open. Top seed Aryna Sabalenka had to rally from a set down to beat Belgium’s Elise Mertens 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Meanwhile, third seed Jessica Pegula, sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, and 10th seed Elena Rybakina all exited the tournament early.
Pegula fell 6-3, 6-2 to Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, Paolini was crushed 6-2, 6-1 by a resurgent Maria Sakkari, and Rybakina was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by the in-form Elina Svitolina, who has yet to drop a set on clay this year.