Rogers Cup: Johanna Konta battles into second round to join Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka in draw
The British No 1 has to fight back from losing the opening set against Jelena Ostapenko to reach the second round and set-up a match with former world No 1 Azarenka
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British number one Johanna Konta, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka all progressed on day two of the Rogers Cup.
Konta battled back from a set down to move to the second round in Montreal with a 6-7 (6/8), 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jelena Ostapenko.
The world No 43 began with plenty of promise, breaking her Latvian opponent twice to race into a 3-0 lead in just nine minutes, but Ostapenko battled back and edged the tie-break.
The next set followed a similar pattern to the first with Konta again winning the opening three games.
Ostapenko was unable to mount a fightback and the British player's dominance continued in the final set, securing three breaks before successfully serving for the match to complete an impressive comeback.
Konta will play Azarenka in the second round after the Belorussian routed Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 6-1.
The two-time grand slam winner, 29, who had a son in December 2016, defeated her French opponent, 25, in under 56 minutes.
Breaking each of Mladenovic's serves in the first set to deny her a point, Azarenka only let one past in the second set.
The winner told WTA after the game: "It's very difficult for women when they become mothers. Your body changes, and so does your mind, and you have different priorities."
Five-time grand slam winner Sharapova set up a second-round clash with fellow Russian Daria Kasatkina, the number 12 seed, with a formidable performance over Sesil Karatantcheva.
Now ranked 229 by the WTA, Karatantcheva was no match for Sharapova, currently at 22, who won 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 20 minutes.
In other matches Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova set up a second-round clash with world number one Simona Halep after beating Christina McHale 6-3, 6-2.
Meanwhile number six seed Caroline Garcia came from a set down to beat Magdalena Rybarikova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the second round.
Petra Kvitova, the number eight seed, beat Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-4 in the second round and number 10 seed Julia Goerges progressed to the third round after beating Lucie Safarova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
On Wednesday Sorana Cirstea will play number 13 seed Venus Williams in the second round after beating Monica Niculescu 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Number four seed Angelique Kerber will play Alize Coronet after the Frenchwoman beat Tatjana Maria 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
PA
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments