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Roundup: Azarenka ousts Kvitova, Wozniacki upset at Rogers Cup

Xinhua, August 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Wednesday continued her climb to the top after beating the third seed Petra Kvitova in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) in the second round of Rogers Cup.

After being the best women's tennis player for 51 weeks between 2012 and 2013, the 26-year-old Azarenka is recovering from a foot injury sustained in 2014, which caused her to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 2008.

"I'm happy with the result. Playing against a top 5 player and showing a consistency on the court throughout the whole match is really good," said Azarenka following the match in Toronto. "I'm not trying to be too happy because I still have to play tomorrow. But I think it was a good performance. I stayed really focused throughout the whole match."

Azarenka will face No. 15 seed Sara Errani of Italy in her third round match Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday saw a total of 11 seeded players in action with six of them victorious, including Errani.

No. 2 seed Simona Halep of Romania, No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and No. 6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland all won in straight sets to advance to the third round.

Halep ousted former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia (6-3, 6-4), who was looking to better her 2007 Rogers Cup runner-up finish.

Angelique Kerber headlined a group of four Germans who were victorious in second round action. The No. 13 seed won in straight sets over Puerto Rico opponent Monica Puig 6-2, 6-3. No. 16 seed Andrea Petkovic and unseeded Sabine Lisicki also advanced in straight sets while qualifier Carina Witthoeft needed three sets.

No. 4 ranked Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was one of five seeded players to fall on Wednesday after a 7-5, 7-5 loss to 18-year-old Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.

Czech Lucie Safarova (No. 7), Spaniard Garbine Muguruza (No. 8) and Russian Ekaterina Makarova (No. 11) were also unsuccessful in their matches.

The eight top ranked players in the tournament, Kvitova, Wozniacki, Safarova and Muguruza received first round byes and were playing their opening matches Wednesday. Their eliminations leave Serena Williams (No. 1), Halep (No. 2), Ivanovic (No. 5) and Radwanska (No. 6) as the only top-eight seeds remaining in the tournament.

Out of the 16 remaining players, nine are unseeded.

Play resumes on Thursday when the field will be reduced to eight as players inch closer to the 456,000-US-dollar first place prize.

Meanwhile in men's tournament in Montreal, 20-year-old Aussie Nick Kyrgios overcame Stan Wawrinka, but not before a stunning sledge.

Wawrinka, the third seed at the ATP 1000 event, was trailing 4-0 in the third set when he retired with a back injury. The Swiss two-time grand slam champion had taken the first set 7-6 (10-8) before dropping the second 6-3 to the Australian.

It all came after a remarkable and controversial sledge from Kyrgios, who has already been at the center of controversy this year. "[Thanasi] Kokkinakis banged your girlfriend," Kyrgios was heard saying. "Sorry to tell you that, mate."

The unpredictable Kyrgios, a good friend of Kokkinakis', has already endured a tough year, with his on-court behavior criticized during the Australian Open. Endi