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Wozniacki overcomes injury to outlast Pervak in Madrid

Caroline Wozniacki receives treatment on her ankle © Getty Images

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Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki survived an injury scare to book her place in the second round of the Madrid Open, seeing off Ksenia Pervak in a marathon three-setter.

The sixth-seeded Dane, yet to win a title in 2012, battled on despite rolling an ankle to eventually prevail 7-6(7) 3-6 6-4 in a match lasting more than three hours.

Wozniacki has endured an inconsistent start to the season and her propensity to show lapses in concentration during a match was evident again as she struggled to keep a determined Pervak under wraps.

Wozniacki has often in the past been accused of not having the mental strength needed to win a grand slam but, while that may be the case, she showed huge resilience to save 14 of the 22 break points she faced.

The first set saw eight breaks of serve - four for each player - and it needed a monumental effort in the ensuing tiebreak for Wozniacki to pinch it. The second set proved a far tighter affair, with Pervak edging matters to force a decider, where Wozniacki held her nerve to seal her passage into the second round.

Top seed Victoria Azarenka was also pushed hard before coming through 7-6(5) 6-4 against Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova fired 10 aces in the encounter but her serve was also her undoing as seven double faults proved costly.

Maria Sharapova, the No. 2 seed, enjoyed a routine victory over Irina-Camelia Begu. The Russian's first delivery was superb, with 79 per cent landing and 30 of 34 points on the first serve won. The opening set was over within the blink of an eye, Sharapova breaking three times in a devastating display of power, before a single break in the second was enough to send the three-time grand slam champion through.

Fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska won all of her service games en route to a one-sided 6-3 6-1 success against Lara Arruabarrena-Veci. Angelique Kerber was impressive in her 6-1 6-4 triumph over Johanna Larsson, while 13th seed Ana Ivanovic also progressed after beating France's Mathilde Johansson in straight sets.

There were a couple of shocks: 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone was dumped out 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 by American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko and 14th seed Dominika Cibulkova crashed out at the hands of Roberta Vinci.

The unseeded Yanina Wickmayer coasted past Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2 6-4, and there were also wins for Nadia Petrova and Shahar Peer.

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