After her second-round loss against Nadia Petrova in Madrid, Serena Williams gave the tournament a less than stellar rating, saying, "This isn't a player-favorite tournament, to be honest. None of the players are really gung-ho about playing here."
Madrid is in its second year as the last big clay event before the French Open—just one week separates the two tournaments. The high altitude conditions of Madrid have been criticized by some players as being too different from the French Open, but as a Masters event on the men's side and a Premier mandatory on the women's, most of the top players have played it.
Last year, Williams retired from her opening match in Madrid with an injury, saying she would not have played if not for WTA rules. "Unfortunately, it doesn't matter if you are injured, it doesn't matter if you are dead or alive, if you don't play they are going to fine you heavy on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, so I have to play," she said at the time. "I wanted to do well [in Madrid] but at the end of the day, I'm trying to play Paris."
Williams battled for her opening win earlier this week, however, playing the longest match of her career to defeat Vera Dushevina in two hours, 36 minutes. The American received treatment for a leg problem during the match. Her second match, against Petrova, lasted for two hours and 11 minutes.