TORONTO — Canada's Kayla Cross has her first WTA victory.
The London, Ont., product upset Britain's Katie Boulter 7-6 (3), 7-5 to advance to the second round of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
Cross, who was playing just her third tour match and entered the event as a wild card, will next face No. 28 seed Ann Li of the United States.
A total of five Canadians were scheduled to hit the court on York University's campus Monday.
McCartney Kessler of the U.S. cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Cadence Brace of Oakville, Ont.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who broke Canada's half-century drought by winning the NBO in 2019, faced Czechia's Nikola Bartunkova, Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Ont., took on Poland's Magda Linette, and Vancouver's Rebecca Marino was scheduled to meet Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez.
Spurred on by a home-soil tennis crowd at centre court, the 21-year-old Cross fought off four set points in the first and then broke Boulter — ranked No. 69 in the world — at 5-5 in the second before serving out to pick up a memorable victory.
Cross, who bowed out of the NBO's first round last summer in Montreal, entered the annual showcase ranked 172 after sitting at No. 262 some 12 months ago.
Leylah Fernandez, the only seeded Canadian at No. 30 at the women's tournament in Toronto, plays her first match Wednesday.
