Venus bows out, Djokovic cruises
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, August 8, 2013
Venus Williams lost in her first match in more than two months, falling 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Kirsten Flipkens at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday in Toronto, Ontario.
It was Williams' first tour match since she lost in the first round of the French Open on May 26. The 33-year-old missed Wimbledon, after 16 consecutive appearances, because of a lower back injury.
"I wasn't really expecting to play that well in the first set," Williams said. "In the second, I just didn't handle it well. But I was pretty close there to closing that match out and then got down in the third."
Williams has been battling an auto-immune disease for the past few years and said she might have come back a week too early. But she feels she needs matches before the US Open, which begins in a little less than three weeks time.
Maria Kirilenko and Ana Ivanovic won in straight sets to advance to the second round. Kirilenko beat qualifier Petra Martic 6-2, 6-1, and Ivanovic defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1, 6-2.
In other matches, American qualifier Lauren Davis edged Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; Dominika Cibulkova stopped Angelique Kerber 6-7 (0), 6-2, 7-5; and Canada's Eugenie Bouchard beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-3, 6-1.
Cibulkova needed nearly 3 hours to win the match.
"My serve was not working like I was expecting," she said. "But in the end I made it, so I was really happy."
Bouchard, a 19-year-old from Montreal, mixed up her effective ground strokes with some slick cut shots that left her Russian opponent stymied. There were more service breaks than holds early in the 79-minute match, which forced the Canadian to adjust her style.
"I just decided to go for it and started to play aggressive," Bouchard said. "That definitely helped me."
Jelena Jankovic needed three sets to defeat qualifier Anna Tatishvili 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3.
Ekaterina Makarova beat Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 7-5, and Alize Cornet topped Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-3.
American Sloane Stephens made her debut at the Rogers Cup with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over France's Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round.
Sam Stosur, the No. 12 seed from Australia, defeated Julia Glushko of Israel 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
On the men's tour, Vasek Pospisil of Canada ground out a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) win over America's John Isner in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday in Montreal, Quebec.
Two-time defending Rogers Cup champion Novak Djokovic also moved on, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 win against Florian Mayer.
"It's the first game (for me) since Wimbledon, I had four weeks off ... but it was a great performance," Djokovic said.
Pospisil will next face 51st-ranked Radek Stepanek, who beat 12th-seeded Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
Three other Canadians advanced, too: Milos Raonic, Filip Peliwo and Frank Dancevic.
The 13th-seeded Raonic used his booming serve to beat France's Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in a night match.
Raonic said he felt no added pressure to keep the Canadian winning streak going.
"I'm very proud and happy for the guys that have been winning," he said. "But it doesn't affect myself personally.
In the second round, Kei Nishikori of Japan dumped Italy's Andreas Seppi 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.
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