Dementieva beats Mattek-Sands to reach 2nd round of Madrid Masters

Dementieva advances to 2nd round in Madrid

MADRID — Third-seeded Elena Dementieva beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-4, 6-1 on Saturday to reach the second round of the Madrid Masters.

The tournament is being played on clay as a joint ATP and WTA Tour for the first time, with the men set to start on Sunday. It was previously a men’s hard-court event.

Eighth-seeded Nadia Petrova also advanced after Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic retired while trailing 6-0, 2-1, and 15th-seeded Zheng Jie of China ousted Russia’s Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.

No. 11 Marion Bartoli of France was eliminated, losing 7-6 (2), 6-2 to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada.

Also advancing were Alisa Kleybanova and Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, and Virginie Razzano of France.

Serena and Venus Williams and top-ranked Dinara Safina are also in the tournament, but were not in action Saturday.

Rafael Nadal is the top seed on the men’s side and was not impressed by the blue-colored clay used for the event.

“The clay tour has its history,” he said. “The surface is red, not blue. And tennis is not just show business. History and tradition need to be valued also.”

The new stadium, designed by French architect Dominique Perrault, boasts retractable roofs over its three main arenas, including a center court holding 12,500 spectators.

The site was inspected by the International Olympic Committee this week as a key venue in Madrid’s 2016 Olympics bid.