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28 March 2024

Tennis: Murray, Nadal, cruises ahead in Montreal Masters

Andy Murray of Britain hits a return to Marcel Granollers of Spain at the Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Montreal August 7, 2013. (REUTERS)

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By AFP

Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal competed on hard courts for the first time in five months Wednesday, with both reaching the third round of the Montreal Masters.

Second seed Murray shook off his post-Wimbledon cobwebs with a fighting 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) victory over Marcel Granollers.

The win -- his 13th in succession -- came just over a month after the Scot made history with the first British Wimbledon men's singles title since 1936.

French Open champion Nadal, seeded fourth, showed no mercy to Canada's Jesse Levine in a 6-2, 6-0 win as the Spaniard returned to action for the first time since his shock Wimbledon opening round loss to Steve Darcis six weeks ago.

Nadal saved three break points while breaking Levine five times in 71 minutes on court.

"The knee is not bothering me much," said Nadal. "In the last couple of days, I was able to practice with no limitation, that is the most important thing.

"After seven weeks without playing tennis, you start a tournament on hard court, that is tougher for the body.

"You always feel a few things at the beginning. But hopefully those things will not limit my chances to play well."

Nadal takes on Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz, who beat Canada's Frank Dancevic 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4.

Murray's victory puts him in a match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 winner over Italian 13th seed Fabio Fognini.

"I was nervous beforehand, that was a good sign. I'm pretty ready to move forward and not think too much about Wimbledon and concentrate on the US Open," Murray said.

"If I'd lost today, it would have just broken the momentum a little bit. The more matches I can get in the next few weeks, the better."


Williams cruises in Toronto opener

Serena Williams, who captured the Rogers Cup in 2001 and 2011, easily won her opening match this year by beating former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone in straight sets Wednesday.

The top seeded Williams eliminated Italy's Schiavone 6-3, 6-2 in the WTA Tour's $2.4 million hardcourt tournament.

"She's a grand slam champion so I had to really focus," said Williams, who was the runner-up in Toronto in 2000. "I made a few errors but it's my first match on hard (courts) in a really long time."

Williams next faces No.13 seed Kirsten Flipkens, who beat Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

Flipkens ousted Venus Williams in the first round earlier this week, but this will be the first career match between her and Serena Williams.

Last year's runner-up Li Na, of China, Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli and Petra Kvitova also won their Toronto openers in straight sets.

Serena Williams blasted five aces and won 68 percent of her first-serve points against the Italian veteran.

The error-prone Schiavone hit nine double faults and won just 25 percent of her second-serve points.

Williams said she is confident going forward in the tournament.

"It took me a few games to adjust to her game. Now I feel like I'm completely adjusted, and I feel good going into the next round," Williams said.

Fourth-seeded Li stormed to a 6-1, 6-4 win against Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova while seventh seed Bartoli, who won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon last month, took the first seven games of her match with America's Lauren Davis in a 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Bartoli said she was surprised how smoothly she rediscovered her game after her Wimbledon triumph.

"I hadn't played on hard courts for a while, and also the last two times I played in Toronto I lost in the first round," Bartoli said.
 
"So I just wanted to enjoy myself on the court and try my hardest, and being able to win 6-0, 6-3 was obviously pretty good for me.

"I think I played well, and I'm very pleased with the way I handled everything on the court today."