THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Aleksandra Wozniak got a huge ovation when she took centre court for her opening match at the US$1.34 Rogers Cup, and the Blainville, Que., native didn’t disappoint.
Wozniak recovered from a woeful middle set to defeat Chan Yung-Jan 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 on Tuesday night in her first match at home since posting her first WTA tournament victory two weeks ago at Stanford, Calif.
"I think all of Blainville was here," the 20-year-old said of her home suburb about 20 kilometres north of Uniprix Stadium. "It was so great.
"They gave me so much energy in the match."
The victory put Wozniak into a second round meeting Wednesday night against Jelena Jankovic, the world’s second-ranked player. In their only previous meeting, the serb won 6-3, 6-3 at the 2007 Australian Open, which Wozniak counts as one of those learning experiences that has made her a better player now.
"I hope it will be a better match, that I’ll be more aggressive and try to focus and stay in the moment the whole match," Wozniak said. "Mentally, I’ve been tougher than in the past.
"I gained experience on how to play the best players in the top 30 or 50. You have to play really aggressive tennis. You cannot play defensively against them. They take advantage of every ball."
World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, the winner here in 2006, and No. 3 Maria Sharapova of Russia will also see their first action on Wednesday. The top eight seeds in the 56-woman field have byes to the second round. Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., will also play in the second round against 13th-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia.
On a day that saw fellow Canadians Marie-Eve Pelletier of Repentigny, Que., and Sharon Fichman of Toronto ousted in the first round, Wozniak stepped up.
But after a surprisingly easy opening set, Chan started to hit the ball harder and deeper, and Wozniak looked to be in trouble. But late in the set, she got a better read on the depth and pace of the Taiwanese player’s shots and it carried into the third.
Fichman’s first taste of Rogers Cup singles action didn’t last long, but she’s looking forward to another chance next year in her home town of Toronto.
Fichman was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by American veteran Jill Craybas in the first round, just as Pelletier was going down 6-0, 6-1 to 12th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova.
"It was definitely an experience, being my first main draw match ever in a WTA event," Fichman said. "Especially with it being in Canada, it was a great experience.
"It really felt amazing to have the Canadian support and people cheering for me. I’m looking forward to next year."
Fichman, who still has a doubles match to play on Wednesday with partner Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, has just graduated from Forest Hill Collegiate in Toronto and is at a crossroads in her career.
She remains an amateur, but can turn professional or go to a top U.S. university, perhaps Harvard. But she will continue to play tournaments against pros, mostly at the challenger level, to try to raise her ranking from its current 323rd. Then she’ll make her decision.
"My results aren’t significant enough at this time to make me want to change to a pro," she said. "I’m going to keep the (amateur) status just in case.
"The way I look at it is that the worst case is I go to Harvard, which is not a bad worst case at all."
Pelletier’s match was to have been played on Monday night, but five rain delays over the course of day forced it to be postponed.
"I went to bed quite late last night and got up early to get ready, but it was the same for her," said Pelletier, who is ranked 202nd in singles but does much better in doubles. "It’s not an excuse."
She was never in it against Petrova, who shut out the cheers of Pelletier’s home crowd and dominated the match.
"I wasn’t nervous playing at home, I was pretty excited," Pelletier said. "I just think she’s a tough player.
"I don’t play that many. She’s at a high level, so if I don’t play my best tennis, it’s hard to compete with her."
A second-round match saw fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova advance when her opponent, fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, retired in the second set with a right shoulder injury. Kuznetsova led 6-1, 1-0 at the time.
After Tamira Paszek’s ouster of No. 14 Francesca Schiavone on Monday, another seed fell as Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama downed 16th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic.
Sugiyama, 33, dropped the first three games of the first set, then won eight games in a row before falling into another lull against 19-year-old Vaidisova en route to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victory.
In the late match, Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova upset fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
It was a tough day for Americans, who have only Craybas remaining in the tournament.
Bethanie Mattek, who cracked the top 50 in world rankings by reaching the semifinals last week in Los Angeles, fell 7-5, 6-2 to 56th-ranked Marta Domachowska of Poland. Domachowska next plays third-seeded Maria Sharapova.
Victoria Azarenka, the 11th seed from Belarus, beat American Jamea Jackson 6-1, 6-1 and Alisa Kleybanova of Russia downed Ahsha Rolle of the U.S. 6-4, 6-2. American Julie Ditty fell 7-6 (4), 6-0 to Melina Czink of Hungary in a battle of qualifiers.
Kirilenko downed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-1, 7-5 to set up a second-round meeting with Dubois, who ousted Olga Govortsova of Belarus late Monday night.
And Flavia Pannetta, the 15th seed from Italy, took out Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.