Lisicki ousts Venus at Rogers Cup
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AFTER waiting out a lengthy rain delay, Germany’s Sabine Lisicki defeated Venus Williams 6-0, 6-3 on Monday in their first-round match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ontario.
“I really had an off day,” Williams said. “It was definitely a long wait and tough to not warm up. My opponent and I were under the same conditions, and she played really well.”
Rain washed out most of the matches scheduled in the women’s half of the draw, and Williams and Lisicki didn’t take the court until after 10pm.
When they did, the 14th-seeded Williams wasn’t sharp, giving away more than a half-dozen points on double faults.
Lisicki was strong in her service game and rarely made the kind of mistakes that cost Williams.
Fans who waited out the rain tried to encourage Williams during her struggles.
“Against Venus you have to play well to be able to beat her,” Lisicki said. “You have to be ready and fight for every point, and I’m very pleased with my performance.”
During the match, some fans cheered on Lisicki, but many tried to encourage Williams as she struggled. “It’s hard to just, (in the) first round, play a player who doesn’t give you any rhythm,” Williams said. “Just a tough draw and bad luck.”
Only one other singles match was completed on Monday, as Italy’s Flavia Pennetta defeated Canada’s Gabriel Dabrowski 6-4, 6-1 on center court.
Pennetta will take on top-ranked Serena Williams in the second round.
In Quebec, the French flag flew proudly in Montreal on Monday as Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup.
Both Frenchmen enjoyed straight-sets victories while compatriot Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had his match delayed by rain in the final action of the day’s first round.
Monfils needed just over an hour to dispatch Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-1, denying the Italian a single break in the match.
“I wanted to start off this tournament well. It was not a great match, but I didn’t play bad,” Monfils told reporters.
“I played a solid match. It was important to me.”
Ninth-seeded Simon extended his perfect record against Andreas Seppi to 5-0 with his 6-2, 6-4 victory.
Simon broke Seppi three times and he too never lost serve.
Tsonga was leading his opening set against Croatia’s Borna Coric 2-1 when play was suspended.
Defending champion Tsonga has fallen to No. 24 in the world, his lowest ranking since bursting onto the scene following the 2008 Australian Open.
In other matches, Spain’s Tommy Robredo overcame Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, American Sam Querrey beat Martin Klizan 6-3, 6-3, and Croatian Ivo Karlovic fired 18 aces past Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz on the way to a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory.
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray all had first-round byes.
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