Stars fall at Rogers Cup
Toronto, August 6
Upsets bookended the Rogers Cup on Monday with Ukrainian teen Dayana Yastremska beating British 13th seed Johanna Konta 6-3 6-2 early on in Toronto before Maria Sharapova fell 4-6 6-3 6-4 to Anett Kontaveit under the lights in the evening session.
Estonian Kontaveit battled back from a set and a break down in the first-round match to defeat the five-time Grand Slam champion, who entered the tournament as a wild card after injuries kept her out of action for much of the season. The Russian sent a forehand service return long on match point to end the engrossing 2 hour and 41 minute battle.
Earlier, Yastremska, ranked 33rd in the world, squandered four match points but took her fifth opportunity, dispatching Konta with the clock barely ticking past noon on the Toronto hardcourt. The result avenged Yastremska’s loss to Konta when the pair met at Eastbourne in June. The 19-year-old from Odessa is having a breakout season after claiming two titles and producing a spirited run to the last 16 at Wimbledon.
Russia’s Daria Kasatkina recovered from a disastrous first set to upset 12th seed Angelique Kerber 0-6 6-2 6-4 while Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, 15th seed Caroline Wozniacki and American Jennifer Brady all advanced in straight sets at the WTA’s Premier 5 event.
In other matches of the day, 76th-ranked American Jennifer Brady defeated 50th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-1 6-2. Swiss 11th seed Belinda Benic, the 2015 champion, beat Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-2 6-1 and 20th-ranked Belgian Elise Mertens outlasted Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 3-6 6-3 6-1.
Shapovalov, Raonic in Rd 3
Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic fed off a supportive home crowd to advance in straight sets to the second round.
Shapovalov defeated France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 7-5 to snap a five-match losing streak while Raonic crushed 16 aces en route to a 6-4 6-4 win over another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille, earlier in the day. Their victories helped keep the nation’s hopes of a homegrown men’s singles champion alive. Stan Wawrinka beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4. — Agencies
