By Chris Oddo | Saturday May 5, 2018
Anett Kontaveit rallied from a set down to complete an upset over No.8-seeded Venus Williams in Madrid.
Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty
Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit improved to 4-1 against the Top 20 in 2018 with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over No.8-seeded Venus Williams. The Estonian is coming off a semifinal in Stuttgart and improved to 14-7 on clay since Stuttgart 2017.
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The World No.29 won for the first time in three tries against Williams, and improved to 6-3 in three-setters on the year.
"I'd lost to her two times already, and so I had nothing to lose," Kontaveit told WTA Insider after the match. "I didn't go out there feeling scared. I do feel like I can challenge anybody here, so I was feeling good to go on the court.”
Williams has now lost four straight at Madrid since reaching the title match in 2010.
Fifth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko also fell, along with No.12-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe.
Ostapenko was knocked off by Irina-Camelia Begu, 6-3, 6-3, while Vandeweghe was bounced by France’s Kristina Mladenovic. 7-5, 6-0.
No.4-seeded Elina Svitolina (d. Cornet), No.6-seeded Karolina Pliskova (d. Vesnina), No.7-seeded Caroline Garcia (d. Cibulkova), No.11-seeded Julia Goerges (d. Babos) and No.14-seeded Daria Kasatkina (d. Wang) all advanced in first-round action.