Sabine Lisicki of Germany took just 66 minutes to see off Venus Williams of the United States 6-0, 6-3 in their Rogers Cup first-round clash, in Toronto on Monday. (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)
Reuters/Toronto
After a long rain delay Germany’s Sabine Lisicki made quick work of Venus Williams, strolling into the second round of the Rogers Cup on Monday after routing the American 6-0, 6-3.
Rain wiped out most of the opening day action but play finally resumed on the Toronto hard-courts late in the evening following a nine-hour wait with Williams and Lisicki walking out onto a near-empty centre court.
For those who waited out the storm, the reward was brief as Lisicki needed just 66 minutes to dismiss the 14th seed.
“It’s always tough after a long rain delay, you don’t know if you are ever going to get onto the court and with a tough match against Venus,” said Lisicki. “It’s always a pleasure to play her because you know you have to play well to beat her, so I’m really happy with my performance today.”
Lisicki, who got her North American hard-court campaign off to a shaky start with a first-round loss last week at Stanford, came out looking sharper and ready to play, opening the match with a break.
Williams, trailing 3-0, had a chance to break back but could not convert as Lisicki held to forge further ahead. Williams’ resistance continued to crumble, with three straight double faults in the fifth game handing her opponent a third break, before Lisicki closed out the set 40-0.
Williams, playing just her second match since a fourth-round loss to sister Serena at Wimbledon, held serve to open the second set but then double-faulted to gift Lisicki a 2-1 lead. Williams later saved two match-points but could not fight off a third as Lisicki improved her record to 4-1 against the American.
The match was only the second singles contest to be completed on a soggy opening day. In the first match of the day on centre court, Italian 15th seed Flavia Pennetta beat Canadian wild card Gabriela Dabrowski 6-4, 6-1 to set up a second round encounter with world number one Serena Williams.
A former doubles world number one, Pennetta needed just 69 minutes to dismiss the 222nd-ranked Dabrowski and register her first match win since the French Open. “It’s going to be nice because I’ll play one of the best players ever,” said Pennetta. “But it’s good because she’s the hardest test and I’ll see where my game is.”
Serena, who like all top seeds received a first-round bye at the US Open hard-court tune-up event, has won all six prior matches against the Italian, who will be the US superstar’s first hard-court foe since winning her fourth Grand Slam title in a row last month at Wimbledon.
Halep sympathises with Bouchard
Eugenie Bouchard has talked about her struggles to follow up her breakthrough 2014, but according to those who've seen first hand what she's capable of—like Simona Halep, who had a breakthrough year right along with her in 2014—there's no doubt she'll be back at the top again.
"People sometimes say things when you start losing. It's normal. I know—I have the same thing in my country," said Halep, who, like Bouchard, is her country's highest-ranked player in WTA history.
"It's tough to comment about it, because if you win, everything is perfect, but if you lose, sometimes people will look to see what you're doing off the court and try and take everything in a bad way.
"But I think Eugenie Bouchard will come back to the top soon. She was in the top, so we know she has the game to be there. Every player goes through this—it takes time and energy, but it will happen."
Halep, who reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open last year and has been as high as No. 2 in the world—she's currently No. 3—had some very classy words for world No. 1 Serena Williams as well.
"For me, Serena's the best player in the world," Halep said. "She has so much power, not only physical power but mentally as well. I think she can be beaten, but it's really tough... I'm competitive too, so I'm able to take many things from watching her."