Canada went 2-1 in singles action on Tuesday at Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, as Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois advanced into round two, while Eugenie Bouchard fell to world No. 10 Andrea Petkovic.
Serena Williams also was a winner in her first-round match.
Wozniak, who flew to Toronto right after winning the Odlum Brown Vancouver Open on Sunday, demolished Shahar Peer of Israel 6-1, 6-0 in just 43 minutes. She is in fine form and will next take on Samantha Stosur.
Dubois pulled out the first set tiebreaker against Kathrin Woerle of Germany and never looked back, claiming the match 7-6(4), 6-1. The Laval, Que. native, who advanced to the quarter-finals at Washington less than two weeks ago, is into the second round of Rogers Cup for the fourth time.
Rogers Cup marks Williams' fourth tournament back since her year-long absence due to injury, and she looked 100 per cent back her to normal self on Tuesday. She zipped through the first set against Alona Bondarenko, winning six straight games, and though the Ukrainian upped her level in the second the 13-time Grand Slam champion easily won it for a score of 6-0, 6-3.
Ana Ivanovic tore through her first-round match, taking out qualifier Zhang Shuai of China 6-1, 6-1 in just 55 minutes.
Ivanovic, who was to face Venus Williams before the American was forced to withdraw due to illness, has been playing great tennis since her coaching change following Wimbledon. The 2006 Rogers Cup champion was a semifinalist in Carlsbad last week.
In the first match to get started after an approximately three hour rain delay, Canadian Bouchard fell in her first-ever Rogers Cup main draw match as she lost to Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-2, 6-2.
Taking the spotlight on Centre Court, the 17-year-old, who is ranked No.6 on the ITF junior rankings, held in with the top player for the first few games before Petkovic's higher level of skill and experience took over. She did fight hard to elongate the match in the second set though, as down 4-0, she prevented a bagel and pushed it to 6-2. It should be a good learning experience for the talented young player, whose future is bright. She won her first two professional titles at Challengers earlier this year and also claimed her first WTA main draw match just two weeks ago in Washington, D.C.
For Petkovic, it was a solid victory in her first match as a member of the Top 10, and also her premier win in Canada. She is definitely one of the top contenders to lift the trophy on Sunday.
No. 13 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who is coming off a title in Carlsbad, was triumphant in eliminating Elena Vesnina 6-4, 6-1.
Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia also was victorious in her first-round match, taking out the always-tough Argentinean Gisela Dulko in straight sets.
Dulko's doubles partner and fellow defending Rogers Cup presented by National Bank doubles champion, Flavia Pennetta, enjoyed a better result, taking out Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-1, while Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium fell to Italy's Roberta Vinci.
Kim Clijsters won the first set 6-3 and was ahead in the second 3-2 when she called her physical trainer and explained to Zheng that she has to retire.
A. WOZNIAK/S. Peer
6 1, 6 0
An interview with: ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Did your win last week in Vancouver really help your confidence for your performance tonight?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Yeah, last week I had five good matches, and definitely it helped me gain confidence and I played a lot of matches which helped my game, also.
So today it showed that I played really well. I played offensively, and I didn't let her come back in the match.
Q. Did you feel that the qualities that you had that helped you win last week they were evident today, like it was the same sort of play you were playing last week that you were playing today?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Yeah, and I thought even today I made less errors. I was playing more consistent, and I was trying to wait for the right ball and play aggressive.
Q. Last time that you played was a very different situation. I don't know if there was less pressure or not, because at that point Canada was basically trying to go for World Group position in Fed Cup against Israel, and Shahar kind of had you that day. I wanted to know two things: A lot of double faults by both players. Were you affected by the low setting of the sun in your eyes? It seemed like everyone had a lot of problems with the vision and a lot of discussion with the umpires about whether the balls were in or out; and secondly, did you notice any kind of situation with Shahar where maybe her game wasn't quite up to what you expected?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Okay, so first question, back, yes, last time we played was, if I remember, Kamloops, right, in 2007, the World Group Fed Cup? That's right.
Yeah, it was a different situation. I mean, first of all, it was four years ago, so I'm a different player. Obviously, yeah, she played a great match back then. They won the World Group. It was really nice for them, disappointing for us.
But today, yeah, to answer your other question regarding the sun, well, yeah, it was different, especially when I felt it more on the returns of the serves, but actually I handled that better even though the sun was there on my left side, on the other side.
But my serve, yeah, I thought, you know, I tried my best with serving well, and I did some I put her in tough positions with my serve. Returning, I was waiting for the short ball and stepping in.
And I think just didn't let her find her rhythm in her game, because I was always trying to dictate from the very first ball the point, and each points I think she just couldn't, you know, find her rhythm. So I tried to stay on her and have it under control.
I think I didn't miss a question.
Q. This tournament has not been kind to Canadians in the past few years.
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Yeah.
Q. Two Canadians with yourself and Stephanie moving on to the second round. Your reaction to that?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Yeah, it's exciting. It's always been tough for Canadians to succeed at this Rogers Cup, in Toronto and Montreal. I think it's awesome that at least two Canadians past the second round.
It's always tough. I think there are so many things to deal with it, and you try to focus on doing every little thing right. There are a lot of distractions, and sometimes we just have the pressure that comes outside, but we try to do our best to deal with it. And now I'm older and I have learned so many different things, and especially one of them had to deal more with pressure playing at home.
I take it more positive than before, so, you know, it pays off when you know how to deal with things better.
Q. How are you enjoying, if you are enjoying, the sort of virtual combined that we have in Toronto and Montreal?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: It's awesome. It's fun. I see everyone there. It's really nice.
Q. With the win in Vancouver and the win today, how good do you feel going into the rest of this tournament? What challenges do you see will be the most difficult going forward?
ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK: Yeah, the big challenge for me right now is that I haven't played much this year of tournaments. Because of the injury I was out like 10 months really, and it came back in March. So I'm trying to come back and play as many matches as I can.
So I always keep moving forward. I feel that each match I'm improving little things, and especially like the confidence, I'm getting more confident in my game.
So I think it's just building up, so definitely the challenge is always to take the next opponent.
E. MAKAROVA/R. Marino
7 6, 6 4
An interview with: REBECCA MARINO
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Did you feel you were carrying the weight of Canada on your shoulders tonight going into the match?
REBECCA MARINO: Not necessarily. That didn't really put that sort of pressure on myself. Didn't really want to think about that, because it was a lot of weight.
I mean, yeah. I mean, I'm just pretty happy with how I played. I didn't come out winning, but I think I did a good showing for my first time.
Q. What was it in Makarova's game that really challenged you the most, especially leading towards the second set when it seemed like both of you struggled to get a break off each other?
REBECCA MARINO: Yeah, well, her serve was actually quite difficult. That second serve, I know it may have looked easy, but it's difficult, because there was kind of no pace on it. So it's hard to actually create your own.
She used the angles very well generally and moved me around a lot. Very smart player, I guess, is the difference.
Q. How did it feel to come out and hear the Canadian crowd cheering and waving the Canadian flags?
REBECCA MARINO: Oh, it was great. It's a great feeling to know everyone is behind me and everyone is accepting of the great sport.
Yeah, and I actually love playing here or anywhere else in Canada just because the fans are that good, yeah.
Q. What positives can you take away from this experience?
REBECCA MARINO: Yeah, well, let's see. I think I actually moved really well on the court, so that's sort of a positive.
But I think as experience wise, just kind of getting to play under the lights was pretty good. And just having the crowd there just kind of helped me elevate my games at times.
And then sometimes it was I mean, when you can hear what they're saying, you try to focus but it can be distracting, so...
Q. You were born here in Toronto. How proud are you that this country and this city is able to put on such a prestigious and premier tournament?
REBECCA MARINO: I'm very proud we can hold an event such as this. I hear from a lot of players and from my own perspective that the volunteers and all of the staff here are just incredible, just doing anything they can to help us, very friendly, and I think that kind of shows the true Canadian spirit.
Q. Going back to the match, what was going through your mind in the tiebreak? You were down 5 Love there.
REBECCA MARINO: Yeah, well, I like to think I'm okay in tiebreakers, so being down 5 Love, I was like, Okay, come on. Like straighten up a little bit. I think just trying I wanted to show some sort of tenacity and actually fight a little bit.
I think I did that. I had a few chances and I did come back in the match. So to speak, I blew them, but, you know, that's in the past and I can't fix it. I just gotta look at it as things to learn from.
Q. I know that this year you have come into prominence given what you did in the Grand Slams, but when a match like this happens and some people might be disappointed given that you've lost in the first round, how do you kind of balance that? You're still learning, you're still quite young. This year I mean, from this time last year you've jumped over a hundred spots. Is it important for you to put these kind of, I mean, it was a difficult match, to put it in perspective?
REBECCA MARINO: Yeah, of course. I am disappointed losing my match here, especially first round. Not many people enjoy that, I think.
But, you know, I do put it in perspective. I think about where I was a year ago and how far I've come. I don't want to sound sort of egotistical when I say this, but I'm very proud of myself just how far I have come.
You know, yes, it's disappointing, but just so long as I stay positive about it, I can move forward and hopefully have a better showing next year.
Q. I know you live in Vancouver but you were born here. Did you have any family still here tonight that might have been here to watch you?
REBECCA MARINO: No, I don't. My dad came from Vancouver here to watch me tonight and was with me the past few days. We don't have any more family left in Toronto. My dad's hoping to show me around a little bit where his old stomping grounds were.
J. GOERGES/J. Jankovic
6 1, 6 3
An interview with: JULIA GOERGES
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Congratulations on the win. What went right for you today?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, I had like two or three weeks which haven't been that well for me, but I improved every week when I was playing.
Well, today, if you play a player like Jelena, you have to play your best to beat those players. That's what I knew before. I went for my shots and I went for my game, and, yeah, it went pretty well today.
Q. You have always been pretty powerful, big serve, big forehand. But your defense was really, really good today. Was that something you have been working on?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, some years ago I wasn't that fit to move my body that well around. We have been working a lot of it, and we have been working hard the last couple of weeks.
Yeah, well, it paid off today. It never means something that it's paying off that fast. Today it was nice getting this win under your belt.
But, yeah, when you're working hard on those things, some days they will come together. That was one day today.
Q. Most would say 2011 is a breakout year for you. What has changed about your game over the last 12 months?
JULIA GOERGES: I would say the consistency. I mean, I'm still not a consistent player. I'm now the first time in the top 20 for a couple of weeks, and it's nice but it's never easy to stay there.
You have to work on your consistent. And the players who are in the top 10, they are playing their level every week, every match, and that, well, was for me where I was always struggling on.
It's getting better and better, but it's still not perfect for me. I mean, I have always some up and downs also in matches and weeks, so this is the most thing where I can work on.
Q. Possibly your biggest up would have to be when you defeated Caroline Wozniacki for your first career win. How did that help you, knowing you have the confidence to beat anybody here at this tournament?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, it was in front of the home crowd in Germany. It was a special moment for me, and it took a while to realize those things.
I wasn't really thinking about beating No. 1 there, and it just came all together and was a great feeling. It showed me what I can play and what I have inside.
To beat twice No. 1 in the world, it means a lot. You can be proud of that. But it never stops working. You never get it from somewhere. So you always have to be a worker for it, and you always have to go for it, because otherwise you don't beat those players.
That really helped me also today. Obviously I was shaking also in some matches, and today I was staying calm and tough in those things.
Q. Next up might be Serena if she wins tomorrow. Pretty tough draw for you to start. Is that something you're looking forward to? Have you ever played her?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, I got killed once in French Open one and a half years ago, and it can only get better.
But, I mean, it can't be better normally for me. Playing Jelena here in my first round, it's a tough draw, but those matches you want to have. Obviously it never means that you make a lot of points or a lot of money, but you shouldn't think like that.
I mean, you get those matches, and that's what you're working for. You want to play those players to get better and better to have this competition.
This is what I'm looking forward. I mean, first she has to win, but when you look at the draw, you always think like that.
Q. It's your first experience here at the Rogers Cup. What has impressed you about the tournament and about the city?
JULIA GOERGES: I heard a lot of good things from it. I mean, I think it's switching every year with men's, right?
It's very well organized. I mean, the people are always nice here, they treat you well, and I feel a bit also like in Europe. It's very, very nice. It's to U.S. compared a bit different, but I have to say I'm yeah, I like it here. I mean, the people are really nice, and it's a nice place to be and where you can hang out, also.
