Rogers Cup: Petra Kvitova, Samantha Stosur cruise into second round

Montreal: Former Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur were unfazed by opening-day weather delays, cruising into the second round of the WTA hardcourt tournament in Montreal on Monday. Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova, seeded 12th, needed just 59 minutes to get past Poland’s Magda Linette 6-1, 6-2. The Czech, who won her first North American hardcourt title in Montreal in 2012, didn’t face a break point against the young Pole, who pushed former world number one Venus Williams to three sets in Stanford last week. [caption id=“attachment_2916548” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Petra Kvitova celebrates winning against Magda Linette at the Rogers Cup. Getty [/caption] Kvitova, playing her first tournament since Wimbledon, broke Linette twice in each set and finished her off with an ace. Former US Open champion Stosur, seeded 13th, had to work a little harder to dispatch Britain’s Heather Watson 7-5, 6-3. After some first-set struggles, however, she broke Watson three times in the second to wrap up the win. “To get through in straight sets, I’m pretty happy,” the Australian said. “Overall I thought I served pretty well. There weren’t a lot of points off my serve where she could dictate off the first shot.” A string of rain delays stopped play for a total of four hours. Organizers eventually pushed the scheduled last match of the night, between Canadian Francoise Abanda and Chinese qualifier Zheng Saisai, to Tuesday. The only other seed in action, 17th-seeded Elina Svitolina, advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over American qualifier Jennifer Brady. The top eight seeds – now led by second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany after the late injury withdrawal of world number one Serena Williams – have first round byes. Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni booked a second-round meeting with Wimbledon finalist Kerber with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Japan’s Nao Hibino. Britain’s Naomi Broady beat Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to line up a clash with third-seeded French Open champion Garbine Muguruza – who was installed at the top of the revised draw after Williams pulled out with inflammation in her shoulder.