Entering Madrid , the 2014 campaigns of Samantha Stosur and Dominika Cibulkova had headed in dramatically divergent directions.  Toppled in the first week of the Australian Open, Stosur had won just four matches at WTA tournaments since that time.  Cibulkova had reached her first major final in Melbourne, by contrast, and built upon that achievement by reaching two more finals, charging to a Premier Mandatory semifinal in Miami, and cracking the top 10 for the first time.

Both women have excelled on clay throughout their careers.  While Stosur has found her kick serve and heavy topspin well-designed for the surface, Cibulkova has relished the extra time that it has offered her to showcase her lithe court coverage and run around backhands to hit forehands.  The Slovak reached a Roland Garros semifinal in 2009, and the Aussie fell short in the final a year later.  A tight match thus seemed likely to unfold in Madrid, although Cibulkova entered as the favorite.

What followed was a 77-minute display of dominance by Stosur, who lost only four games and protected her second serve especially well.  Cibulkova can be stifled by an outstanding server, for her small size and short wingspan limit her reach on returns. She also did not help her cause by winning just three second-serve points.  Both women faced plenty of break points, but Stosur saved eight of ten while converting six of twelve on Cibulkova's serve.  

Ths upset marked the only surprise in the women's draw today.  World No. 2 Li Na and world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska both advanced in straight sets past potentially challenging opponents.  Each needed a tiebreak to prevail, and Li was thrust to the brink of a third set before snatching her tiebreak from 9-7 from Kirsten Flipkens.  Radwanska faced that situation in the first set, fought to a deadlock at that stage by Australian Open semifinalist Eugenie Bouchard.  Neither Radwanska nor Bouchard has embraced the red dirt, but the Pole's greater experience on the surface surely helped her survive the first set and dominate the second.

Two women more adept on clay also prevailed.  Fourth seed SImona Halep dropped just two games to Julia Goerges, who had qualified for the event after underachieving in recent year.  After a tight three-setter, Svetlana Kuznetsova closed out Alize Cornet with a convincing span of play that extended her strong form this clay season.  Kuznetsova nearly won the Portugal title last week, suggesting a revival from the 2009 Roland Garros champion.  If she can solve Radwanska in the next round, Kuznetsova will fancy her chances against Caroline Wozniacki despite the Dane's resounding victory on Monday.

Men's seeds in the ATP Masters 1000 tournament also started their campaigns on Monday.  While Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed three sets to elude countryman Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Barcelona champion Kei Nishikori cruised to his sixth straight clay win in straight sets.  The highest-ranked man in action, top American John Isner, outlasted a determined test from Teymuraz Gabashvili in two close sets.  Although Gabashvili had needed to qualify for Madrid, he had knocked off David Ferrer en route to a Barcelona quarterfinal and thus posed a threat more formidable than his ranking suggested.  

Lucky loser Marinko Matosevic took full advantage of Novak Djokovic's withdrawal.  After losing in the final round of the qualifying draw, Matosevic received free entry into the main draw.  He routed Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday in one of the few upsets on the men's side.