MONTREAL – Aleksandra Wozniak finally made it to the third round of the women’s draw at the Rogers Cup, but 18-year-old Eugenie Bouchard will have to try again next year.
The 25-year-old Wozniak, from Blainville, Que., downed former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday to go farther than ever before at the US$2.168-million hardcourt tournament once known as the Canadian Open.
“It was about time, eh?” Wozniak said after scoring her first win in five meetings with Jankovic. “When I knew I would play Jelena I really wanted to win.
“I’ve lost tough matches against her. I wanted to be focused on what I have to do and not how she played, to stay on my game plan. I succeeded today and I’m happy about that.”
Bouchard, on a roll since winning both the junior singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon, posted her best WTA Tour win yet in the opening round against Shahar Peer, but lost 6-4, 6-4 to 10th-seeded Na Li in the second round.
”It’s disappointing I couldn’t go another round, but I’ve learned a lot this week,” said Bouchard, who lost in the first round of her Rogers Cup debut last year in Toronto. ”I just want to keep playing players of this level. That’s how I’ll move forward.”
Wozniak will next face Christina McHale, who posted a rain-delayed 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Galina Voskoboeva, the ‘lucky loser” who got into the main draw when third-seeded Maria Sharapova pulled out with a stomach bug. They are 1-1 in head-to-head matchups.
Li takes on eighth-seeded Sara Errani.
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Rain descended on Uniprix Stadium after Wozniak’s afternoon win, stalling other matches in their third sets. Play did not resume until three hours after the evening session was scheduled to start.
When it did, second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska pulled out a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory over 37th-ranked Mona Barthel after trailing 2-4 in the third and Varvara Lepchenko upset No. 12 Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4.
Wozniak, currently ranked 55th in the world, dominated the baseline duel from the outset.
Jankovic was once among of the best in the sport, but she has struggled mightily of late. The 13th seed lost in the first round for the fifth time in her last six tournaments and for the 13th time this year.
It seemed Wozniak had only to keep returning balls and Jankovic would hit long, wide or into the net.
“There were a lot of things I could have done better,” Jankovic said. “I didn’t serve well.
“I got broke so many times (four). I made a lot of double faults (six). There was a lot in my control that I didn’t do and she took advantage of that.”
Bouchard looked outclassed as Li took a 3-1 first-set lead, but gathered herself and made a match of it with aggressive shot-making and some impressive winners.
She broke serve to tie it 4-4 in the second, but then botched a smash at the net to hand service back to Li to close out the match.
Bouchard said the rain delay was not a factor.
”It’s not the best, but it’s the same for both players. You just lie on the couch and listen to music and wait,” she said.
Bouchard’s next stop is a tournament in Dallas in two weeks, then the U.S. Open junior tournament.
It was a tough day for Serbs on centre court. Just before Jankovic fell, the 2006 Rogers Cup champion and current No. 11 seed Ana Ivanovic was blanked 6-0, 6-0 in only 45 minutes by Italy’s Roberta Vinci. Jankovic and Ivanovic each held the No. 1 ranking twice in 2008.
Vinci, the French Open doubles champion with compatriot Sara Errani, had barely survived her first-round match, saving a match point while trailing 1-5 in the third set against Yanina Wickmayer.
Another seed fell as Carla Suarez Navarro downed No. 15 Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Ninth-seeded Marion Bartoli advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Shuai Peng.
After a month on grass at Wimbledon and the London Olympics, many top players look to being having trouble finding the lines while making the abrupt switch to hardcourt play.
Wozniak reached the second round of both events, and had at least a few days to work on hardcourts before the Rogers Cup.
“It was question of adapting to the time change, and the balls are different, the surface,” she said. “For sure, physically and mentally, it’s tough on the players, but we do it 10 months out of 12 and we have to adapt quickly.
“We always put ourselves into challenges at this level. You do the best you can.”
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