Google News Canadian Open: Madison Keys bests Venus Williams in opener; Jennifer Brady moves on
by ABBEY JOHNSON
Some of the heavyweight clashes at the Canadian Open lived up to their billing on the 2023 edition’s opening day, on Monday. Madison Keys prevailed over Venus Williams while Jennifer Brady ousted Ostapenko in their respective first-round clashes.
In the all-American contest between Keys and Williams, the younger player, seeded 13th came through 6-2, 7-5 against the veteran. The proceedings flowed in favour of Keys from the start of the match and Williams was unable to match up to her level right until the 10th game of the second set.
At that time, while serving for the match, Keys was unable to close it out despite having seven match points. In the end, Williams succeeded in breaking Keys’ serve to level the set at five-all. However, a break back on Williams’ serve in the 11th game gave Keys a second chance to serve out the match.
This time, although she squandered one more match point, she did convert the ninth match point that came her way. Jasmine Paolini will be Keys' next opponent. The Italian got past against Croatia’s Donna Vekic, posting a 7-6(3), 6-2 win after an hour and 42 minutes of play.
Canadian Open: Jennifer Brady outsmarts Jelena Ostapenko
Meanwhile, Brady pipped Jelena Ostapenko 7-6(7), 0-6, 7-6(8) after more than two-and-a-half hours of play to make it to the second round. After Brady won the first set, Ostapenko stormed back into the match decisively.
The Latvian not only bagelled the American in the second set but also seemed to heading towards pocketing the deciding set in a similarly one-sided manner. However, Brady made a comeback after being 1-4 down in the final set.
En route, she also saved a couple of match points to deny Ostapenko a win in their clash. After the win, Brady shared, “I have no idea how I won that match. On the court I don't feel like I'm moving as good as I want to, I'm not hitting the ball as deep or heavy as I want to.
I'm not playing good tennis; I'm just playing tennis. That's how I feel on court”. Next up for Brady will be third seed Elena Rybakina. Former world no. 1 Karolina Pliskova, and Sloane Stephens also made their way into the second round of the Canadian Open in Montreal.
Pliskova defeated Lin Zhu 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2. Stephens won against Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 7-6(2). 