MONTREAL: Former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova defeated Zhu Lin and lined up a second-round clash with reigning World No.1 Iga Swiatek on a rain-hit opening day at the Canadian Open, here.
Pliskova of the Czech Republic scored a 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2 victory over China’s Zhu Lin in their first-round match. Pliskova, who was the runner-up in Montreal two years ago, took 2 hours and 22 minutes of play to overcome Zhu at the WTA 1000 event on Monday.
The day’s first rain delay paused that match at 8-8 in the second-set tiebreak, just after Pliskova had missed out on two match points. Upon resumption, Zhu won the next two points to eke out the second set, but Pliskova rebounded in the third set, where she broke Zhu’s serve three times.
Former World No.1 Pliskova will now be pitted against current World No.1 Swiatek at the hardcourt event. Swiatek has won their two previous meetings, which were both on clay. Swiatek routed Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in the 2021 Rome final, but she needed three sets to beat Pliskova in Stuttgart this April.
Meanwhile, another former World No.1, Victoria Azarenka, took down Magda Linette 6-3, 6-0 in a battle between this year’s Australian Open semifinal finishers.
No.16 seed Azarenka bested 25th-ranked Linette in a match which had a nearly-three-hour rain delay directly following the first set. After returning to court, Azarenka won 24 out of the 31 second-set points, avenging a loss to Linette in their most recent meeting in Miami this March.
In other results from the day, 12th-seed Belinda Bencic eased past Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 6-3 and Sorana Cirstea advanced with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Varvara Gracheva.
Moreover, Madison Keys defeated Venus Williams 6-2, 7-5 in the first round. In the sixth career meeting between the two Americans, Keys secured her fourth win over Williams with a steady performance from the baseline. Seeded 13th in Montreal, Keys has been in resurgent form since the start of the grass season. She has made the quarterfinals or better in her last three tournaments, including last week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
Keys kept Williams at bay for most of the match, going unbroken until she stepped to the line to serve out the win at 6-2, 5-4. Williams played her best game of the match, digging in to save seven match points before breaking Keys for the first time.
Keys responded immediately, breaking Williams for a fourth time in the match before closing out the 1-hour and 52-minute win on her ninth match point of the Monday night.
Keys will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the second round. Paolini defeated Donna Vekic 7-6(3), 6-2 earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, 2020 US Open finalist Jennifer Brady’s comeback picked up steam after surviving two match points to defeat Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(7), 0-6, 7-6(8) in the first round.
The victory marked a full-circle moment for the American, who last faced Ostapenko two years ago in Cincinnati. Brady sustained a knee injury in that match, which would trigger a series of injuries that would keep her off the tour for nearly two years.
Brady will face 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the next round. IANS
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