By Giovanni Vianello
Venus Williams clinched a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5, victory against Katerina Siniakova in the second round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
The two players had faced each other just once in the past, at the 2015 edition of Rome tournament. On that occasion, Williams eased past Siniakova with a 6-2 6-2 win. Two years later and the American is now ranked 9th in the world, 31 places higher than her Czech rival.
“She played so well, so competitive. I had a few errors, but I think the key is to keep going for it and you got to hopefully get some (shots) in at some point.” Williams said following her win.
During the first set Siniakova had a very hard start, looking quite emotional and not finding control with her forehand. As a result, Williams stormed ahead to 3-0 with two breaks in her advantage. As the match progressed, the Czech player started to relax and become more precise with her forehand. Siniakova retrieved a break to recover to 2-3. From then on, the game was more balanced and serve-oriented. No other break is seen until the tenth game, in which Williams serves for the set, but got counter-broken at 30 on a spectacular backhand passing shot hit on the run by Siniakova. In the following game, though, the Czech again goes down a break. This time, Williams, while serving for the set, doesn’t hesitate and wins 7-5.
The second set the match remained balanced with both of the players displaying a good level of tennis. At 3-3, the longest game of the match takes place. Siniakova goes up 40-0, before falling to deuce and then 5 break-points are seen, but the Czech shows nerves of steel to hold serve. In the ninth game Siniakova again had to face a difficult situation; she at first trailed 0-30 on her serve, then offers two break-points at the advantages, but even this time she held serve.
It was a break in the 11th game which secured the breakthrough Williams desired. In the twelfth game of the second set Venus served for the match, racing to a 40-0 advantage, Siniakova managed to recover to deuce, but then Williams sealed victory on her fourth match point.
“It’s great to be pushed like this. Leading into the US Open I want to be able to produce my best tennis.”
In the round of 16 Williams will face world No.5 Elina Svitolina. Winning only her second match at the Rogers Cup in her 22-year career, the 36-year-old is maintaining a confident outlook about her performance in Toronto so far.
“Today I was missing some shots I wanted to make, but I feel that my game kept improving and at the end I was playing my best.” Explained Williams. “So that’s, you know, hopefully a lot of confidence to win a match on a day when everything wasn’t perfect.”
Muguruza and Radwanska progress
Elsewhere at the tournament, fourth seed Garbine Muguruza required a fraction under 90 minutes to defeat Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2. The Wimbledon champion hit three aces and won 64% of her service points.
“I felt that I had a lot of opportunities during the [first] set and I felt like I didn’t use them,” Muguruza told wtatennis.com. “I tried not to be very frustrated, tried playing concentrated and kept thinking that I had another chance. I know that in every match, the first set is very important.”
Agnieszka Radwańska charged into the third round by thrashing Timea Babos 6-0, 6-1. Bidding to reach her first tour quarter-final since January, the Pole dropped just six points behind her serve and won 72% of the total points played in the match.
In the next round, Muguruza will play Australia’s Ashleigh Barty. Meanwhile, Radwanska faces sixth seed Caroline Wozniacki.
