Maria Sharapova's reward for advancing to the second round of the Madrid Open on Sunday is a match against Eugenie Bouchard, one of the most outspoken players against the Russian's return after a doping ban.
Fresh off bouncing Maria Sharapova, Bouchard gained a comfortable advantage and walked away with a 6-3, 5-0 victory after the German retired due to a left thigh injury.
But Kerber just couldn't find a way to hold her serve when the Canadian finally got going, hedging her margins and keeping Kerber under pressure as she broke her four more times to take the opening set.
French ace Jo-Wilfried Tsonga described Sharapova's wildcards as "handing candy to a child that has made a mistake", but perhaps her most vocal critic to date has been Canadian former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard.
"The first match of a tournament is always one of the most hard and it's been a while since I played on this court", she said.
"I'm just one of the two players out on the court", Sharapova said. I really felt support.
"Each set I was a break down", Kuznetsova said of the qualifier Wang.
"My shoulder hurt a little bit in the end, but I think I was strong enough to stay there also with my body, not just mentally", Halep said after the three-set battle. I've practiced with her before, played against her.
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"I feel like with confidence, I know when to step in, and still have a chance", Kuznetsova said after the 90-minute match.
Rome was the first to offer her a wild card while she was suspended, and the three-time champion (2011, 2012, 2015) was grateful. "So I think was a very high standard".
Bouchard had stoked the fire ahead of the clash calling her "a cheater" and claiming that Sharapova should not be allowed to play again.
On the men's side, Tomas Berdych defeated Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-4, 6-4, while Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria beat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-6 (7), 6-4.
"And Genie, definitely she's playing much better than past months".
Also on Wednesday, American Coco Vandeweghe posted a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro and Romanian Sorana Cirstea notched a 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 win over Japan's Misaki Doi.
Eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russian Federation defeated Qiang Wang of China 6-4, 7-5, while 14th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France defeated countrywoman Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-1.
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