Aleksandra Wozniak
On her ninth attempt, Aleksandra Wozniak finally made it to the third round of the women's draw at the Rogers Cup.
The 25-year-old 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."
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."
Once the match ended, rain poured at Uniprix Stadium, delaying play.
Wozniak will next face the winner between Christina McHale and Galina Voskoboeva, the 'lucky loser" who got into the main draw when third-seeded Maria Sharapova pulled out with a stomach bug.
It was a tough day for Serbs on centre court. Just before Jankovic fell, the 2006 Rogers Cup champion and No. 11 seed Ana Ivanovic was blanked 6-0, 6-0 in only 45 minutes by Roberta Vinci. Jankovic and Ivanovic each held the No. 1 ranking twice in 2008.
Vinci, the French Open doubles champion with Italian 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.
Many top players look to being having trouble finding the lines while making the abrupt switch to hardcourt play after a month on grass at Wimbledon and the London Olympics.
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."
Later Thursday, Wimbledon junior champion Eugenie Bouchard will attempt to reach the third round. The Westmount, Que., native is scheduled to take on 10th-seeded Li Na.