Ekaterina Makarova (@KateMakarova1) Top Seed Standing After Funky First Round @CitiOpen
Stephan Fogleman, Tennis East Coast
At 1:45 p.m., top seed Lucie Safarova kicked off Tuesday play on Stadium Court. Magdalena Rybarikova was a two-time defending champion warming up on Grandstand court, about to begin her title defense.
So much can happen in two hours.
Quoteth the Morrissey, “The Queen is Dead, Boys’.
The Queen of the Citi, Magdalena Rybarikova, went down in ignominious fashion today, 6-1, 6-1 to Ekaterina Makarova, a 53-minute drubbing not befitting the most dominant player in this WTA event’s short history.
But that wasn’t enough.
Top seed Lucie Safarova was also sent packing at the hands of KiKi Mladenovic 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
That leaves Ekaterina Makarova as new the King of the Court, er, Queen of the Citi. She took down the defending champ, she’s the top seed standing and she is now the favorite to take the title.
Makarova made the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last month, and guess who beat her there? Safarova. She won’t have Lucie to worry about in Washington. BONUS: Ekaterina told me she chose Washington over Stanford because she likes Washington so much. Even though she’s never been to Stanford. Smart woman.
The whole pecking order has reshuffled and this could really benefit Sloane Stephens, who is the second highest seed remaining in the Women’s draw. Um, except that Stephens lost tonight in her match against Christina McHale, 4-6, 6-4, 0-6(!!).
The 1, 3, 4 and 7 seeds are gone (and the twice defending champ) and it’s only Tuesday.
Stay tuned. Even by WTA standards, this is whack. Oh yeah. The winner of this event is clear…as mud.
Tennis Atlantic 