Li tests new tactics in straight sets victory
Print Edition
Fourth-seeded Li Na of China advanced to the third round of the Rogers Cup after defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday in Toronto, Canada.
Li, who spent five days after Wimbledon in Munich undergoing medial checks to ensure she was not carrying any significant injuries, did not always employ the high-risk attack her coach Carlos Rodriguez is encouraging her to try out, but still managed to out-hit Pavlyuchenkova.
“I was fighting a lot on the court,” said Li, who will next face 16th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, a 6-4 6-4 winner over Flavia Pennetta.
“I tried to use more serve/volley but the serve didn’t go in,” Li said. “I was feeling pretty good, because today I tried so many things like not only stay on baseline.”
Top-ranked Serena Williams also made a successful return to hard courts with a 6-3, 6-2 thrashing of Francesca Schiavone.
Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli beat American Lauren Davis 6-0, 6-3, while fifth seeded Italian Sara Errani accounted for Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 7-6(2).
Williams played an aggressive and consistent match to beat Schiavone, whose attempts to serve and volley and mix up her attack had little effect on the 16-time grand slam champion.
“Usually I have a lot of nerves going out there, but in the beginning, I was so relaxed,” said Williams, who won a clay court tournament in Sweden after Wimbledon.
On the men’s tour, Andy Murray made a successful return in his first match since winning Wimbledon, beating Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada.
The second-seeded Murray, a two-time Rogers Cup champion, won his 13th straight match.
“I was pretty nervous beforehand — that was a good sign,” Murray said. “I’m pretty ready to move forward and not think too much about Wimbledon and concentrate on the US Open.”
Murray will face Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 winner over Italy’s Fabio Fognini.
Rafael Nadal also opened with a victory, routing Canada’s Jesse Levine 6-2, 6-0. Also a two-time Rogers Cup winner, the fourth-seeded Spanish star was playing for the first time since a first-round loss at Wimbledon.
“Pleased about the victory, first thing,” Nadal said. “After seven weeks without playing a match, starting in a very tough tournament on a fast court, to be through to the third round is good.”
Canada’s Milos Raonic, seeded 11th, beat Russia’s Mikhail Youzny 6-4, 6-4.
In the biggest upset of the day, Russia’s Alex Bogomolov Jr. knocked off third-seeded David Ferrer of Spain 6-2, 6-4.
Sixth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, coming off a tournament victory on Sunday in Washington, rallied to beat Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Also, fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 6-4; Benoit Paire topped eighth-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 6-2, 7-6 (2); and Marinko Matosevic had a 5-0 lead when 10th-seeded Tommy Haas retired.
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