adminMONREAL.- The French flag flew proudly in Montreal on Monday as Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.
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 number 24 in the world, his lowest ranking since bursting onto the scene following the 2008 Australian Open.
In other games, Spain’s Tommy Robredo overcome 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.
Meanwhile, after a long rain delay Germany’s Sabine Lisicki made quick work of Venus Williams, strolling into the second round of the Rogers Cup on Monday after routing the American 6-0, 6-3.
Rain wiped out most of the opening day action but play finally resumed on the Toronto hardcourts late in the evening following a nine-hour wait with Williams and Lisicki walking out onto a near empty centre court.
For those who waited out the storm, the reward was brief as Lisicki needed just 66 minutes to dismiss the 14th seed.
“It’s always tough after a long rain delay, you don’t know if you are ever going to get onto the court and with a tough match against Venus,” said Lisicki.
“It’s always a pleasure to play her because you know you have to play well to beat her, so I’m really happy with my performance today.”
Lisicki, who got her North American hard-court campaign off to a shaky start with a first-round loss last week at Stanford, came out looking sharper and ready to play, opening the match with a break.
Williams, trailing 3-0, had a chance to break back but could not convert as Lisicki held to forge further ahead.
Williams’ resistance continued to crumble, with three straight double faults in the fifth game handing her opponent a third break, before Lisicki closed out the set 40-0. – Reuters.
Online Reporter