|
 Wozniacki played despite recovering from a nagging calf injury and
fell in a close match to Bencic 7-5 7-5 before indicating she felt
pushed to play by the WTA rules.
"The rules, if you're a top-10 player are that this was my
commitment tournament, you’re forced to play," Wozniacki told
reporters.
"If you don't, you get huge money fines. You get zero points to your
ranking ...which is crazy."
Wozniacki, a former world number one, was also defeated in the
second round last week in Stanford as she battled injury.
Wozniacki was not alone in being upset in Toronto as third seed
Petra Kvitova also went down, losing to former world number one
Victoria Azarenka 6-2 6-3.
Defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska avoided such a fate with her
7-5 6-3 triumph against Julia Goerges while second seed Simona Halep
shook off the rust and stormed into the third round with a
commanding 6-3 6-4 win over former world number one Jelena Jankovic.
Following a month off since her last competitive match, Halep looked
sharp as she opened the North American hardcourt swing by reaching
the third round in Canada for the first time.
The 23-year-old Romanian was in complete control on a blustery day,
not allowing Jankovic a break chance in the opening set and then
saving all three break points in the second.
Halep, winner of three tournaments this season including Indian
Wells, broke her veteran Serb opponent to open the second set and
that was all she needed to clinch a well-deserved win.
"I'm really happy I could win this match because I expected a tough
match," said Halep, who has reached quarter-finals or better at
eight of 11 tournaments this season. "I did a great game today.
"I didn't play a match since Wimbledon so I am really happy that I
can say I played my best game."
[to top of second column] |
Halep was joined in the third round by fifth seed Ana Ivanovic, a
6-4 7-6(4) winner over Belarusian qualifier Olga Govortsova, but it
was otherwise a tough morning for seeds at the Aviva Tennis Centre.
Seventh seeded Czech Lucie Safarova was the big casualty, falling
4-6 7-5 7-5 to Russia's Daria Gavrilova.
After three consecutive first round exits, Gavrilova has enjoyed a
superb run of form on the Canadian hard courts, beating former U.S.
Open champion Sam Stosur in the first round before battling past
French Open finalist Safarova.
Following Safarova to the exit were eighth seeded Spaniard Garbine
Muguruza and Russian Ekaterina Makarova, the 11th seed.
Muguruza, playing her first event since reaching the Wimbledon
final, slumped to a 7-5 6-1 loss against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia
Tsurenko while Makarova, coming off a run to the semi-final in
Washington last week, was tripped up by Slovenian qualifier Polona
Hercog 6-2 6-7 (2) 7-5.
Italian 15th seed Sara Errani avoided adding her name to the list of
surprises but only saw off American Madison Brengle in three sets
6-3 2-6 6-3.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto and Jahmal Corner in Los
Angeles; Editing by Ian Chadband/Greg Stutchbury)
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