Svitolina defeats Wozniacki for Rogers Cup title

Associated PressAug 13, 2017, 8:38 PM EDT

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TORONTO — Elina Svitolina defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-0 to win the Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament on Sunday.

It was Svitolina’s fifth WTA Tour title of the season.

The 22-year-old Ukrainian used powerful groundstrokes and a big serve to keep the sixth-ranked Wozniacki off balance.

A break at love at 4-4 gave the fifth-ranked Svitolina the edge in the first set. She wasn’t threatened again in the 77-minute match.

Svitolina had a clear edge from the baseline thanks to her impressive retrieving ability. Wozniacki was forced to go for more winners and started making more unforced errors as a result.

Wozniacki, a 27-year-old former world No. 1 from Denmark, varied her shots throughout the match, combining power with more looping topspin returns.

Svitolina wasn’t fazed as her consistency and power game proved to be too much.

It was Svitolina’s fourth victory over a top-10 opponent this week and third win in two days.

She beat ninth-ranked Venus Williams in the third round, topped No. 4 Garbine Muguruza in a rain-delayed quarterfinal Saturday morning and downed No. 2 Simona Halep on Saturday night.

It was Svitolina’s third Premier 5 title of the year.

Svitolina has reached five finals this year and won them all. Wozniacki fell to 0-6 in final appearances this season and is 0-3 in head-to-head matches against Svitolina.

Svitolina will move one spot to a career-high No. 4 when the new rankings are released Monday.

The women’s doubles final was scheduled for later Sunday.

Top-seeded Russians Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina were to meet eighth-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic.

Debutant Stearns beats former champ Ostapenko to reach French Open 3rd round

Associated PressMay 31, 2023, 11:14 AM EDT

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PARIS — French Open debutant Peyton Stearns produced the biggest win of her career by defeating former champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

Stearns, a former player at the University of Texas, only turned professional in June last year.

Ostapenko won the 2017 French Open but has since failed to advance past the 3rd round. The 17th-seeded Latvian dropped her serve five times against Stearns and hit 28 unforced errors in her 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 loss.

The 21-year-old Stearns has been climbing the WTA rankings and entered the French Open at No. 69 on the back of an encouraging clay-court campaign.

Third-seeded Jessica Pegula also advanced after Camila Giorgi retired due to injury. The American led 6-2 when her Italian rival threw in the towel.

Only hours after husband Gael Monfils won a five-set thriller, Elina Svitolina rallied past qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the men’s bracket, former runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas ousted Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2. The fifth-seeded Greek was a bit slow to find his range and was made to work hard for two sets but rolled on after he won the tiebreaker.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic are on court later. Alcaraz meets Taro Daniel on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Djokovic will follow against Martin Fucsovics in the night session.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.