Kvitova coy on blue clay fuss

Petra Kvitova said she was "feeling good" when kicking off the defence of her Mutua Madrid Open title with a victory.

The third seed made light work of her New Zealand opponent, breaking her five times and firing five aces in a one-sided 6-2 6-3 success lasting just 67 minutes. The Czech Republic left-hander reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open 2012 but illness and injury curtailed his progress in February. The Wimbledon champion said she would adopt a game-by-game approach to defending her crown in the Spanish capital. "It was a good start to the tournament for me," Kvitova said. "I have nice memories from last year here, but I'm not really thinking that I'm defending champion, because every week is a new week for us." Much of the build up to the tournament has been dominated by the new blue-coloured surface but Kvitova urged her peers to put the matter to rest. She added: "It's different playing on blue clay, but not that different really - it's still clay, and Madrid and Rome are going to be very good preparation for Roland Garros coming up."