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CBC
2 days ago
- Sport
- CBC
Canada's Stakusic bows out of NBO with opening-round loss to Cristian
Canada's Marina Stakusic put up a valiant effort, but ultimately fell to Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the National Bank Open on Sunday. The 142nd-ranked Stakusic, in her fourth appearance at the NBO, was making her main draw debut in Montreal after bowing out in the second round of last year's tournament, held in Toronto. The 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., got off to a strong start, breaking Cristian in the Romanian's very first service game to go up 2-0 in the opening set. The Canadian broke her opponent again in the eighth game to take the opening set 6-2. Cristian wasted little time, however, getting on the board in the second set, breaking Stakusic at love in the opening game. The Romanian, currently ranked a career-high 49th in the WTA rankings, would go on to break her opponent twice more as she evened the match at a set apiece. The third set played out almost identically to that of the second, with Cristian taking the opening game on Stakusic's serve. The Bucharest native then broke twice more on her way to her first-ever win in her first career appearance at the NBO. Cristian will now play Czechia's Linda Noskova in the second round. Noskova, the 20th seed of the tournament, is coming off a runner-up finish at the Prague Open, where she lost Saturday to compatriot Marie Bouzkova in three sets. Stakusic set the table for what promises to be a busy day for Canadians on Montreal's Centre Court. Highly-touted 18-year-old Victoria Mboko is set to make her main draw debut at the National Bank Open later this afternoon against Australia's Kimberly Birrell. Toronto's Mboko has had a breakout 2025 season on tour, qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon, where she reached the third and second round, respectively. Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., will open up the night session against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova. The 25-year-old Canadian, who won the NBO in Toronto in 2019, is coming off a strong showing at the Hopman Cup last week in Italy, as she teamed up with Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime to capture the exhibition team tournament. Andreescu won all three of her singles matches in straight sets, dropping only nine games at the competition. Action concludes on Centre Court with Vancouver's Rebecca Marino taking on French qualifier Elsa Jacquemot. The 34-year-old Marino has struggled this season, winning just one WTA Tour-level match all season. Sunday marks the start of a revamped 12-day, 96-player format, which will notably see the top 32 seeds receive automatic byes into the tournament's second round. Action continues daily at IGA Stadium through until the final, set for Aug. 7.
National Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- National Post
Canada's Stakusic bows out of NBO with first-round loss to Cristian
MONTREAL — Canada's Marina Stakusic put up a valiant effort, but ultimately fell to Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the opening round of the National Bank Open on Sunday. Article content The 142nd-ranked Stakusic, in her fourth appearance at the NBO, was making her main draw debut in Montreal after bowing out in the second round of last year's tournament, held in Toronto. Article content Article content Article content The 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., got off to a strong start, breaking Cristian in the Romanian's very first service game to go up 2-0 in the opening set. The Canadian broke her opponent again in the eighth game to take the opening set 6-2. Article content Cristian wasted little time, however, getting on the board in the second set, breaking Stakusic at love in the opening game. The Romanian, currently ranked a career-high 49th in the WTA rankings, would go on to break her opponent twice more as she evened the match at a set apiece. Article content The third set played out almost identically to that of the second, with Cristian taking the opening game on Stakusic's serve. The Bucharest native then broke twice more on her way to her first-ever win in her first career appearance at the NBO. Article content Cristian will now play Czechia's Linda Noskova in the second round. Noskova, the 20th seed of the tournament, is coming off a runner-up finish at the Prague Open, where she lost Saturday to compatriot Marie Bouzkova in three sets. Article content Stakusic set the table for what promises to be a busy day for Canadians on Montreal's Centre Court. Article content Highly-touted 18-year-old Victoria Mboko is set to make her main draw debut at the National Bank Open later this afternoon against Australia's Kimberly Birrell. Toronto's Mboko has had a breakout 2025 season on tour, qualifying for both the French Open and Wimbledon, where she reached the third and second round, respectively. Article content Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., will open up the night session against two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova. The 25-year-old Canadian, who won the NBO in Toronto in 2019, is coming off a strong showing at the Hopman Cup last week in Italy, as she teamed up with Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime to capture the exhibition team tournament. Andreescu won all three of her singles matches in straight sets, dropping only nine games at the competition. Article content Action concludes on Centre Court with Vancouver's Rebecca Marino taking on French qualifier Elsa Jacquemot. The 34-year-old Marino has struggled this season, winning just one WTA Tour-level match all season. Article content
Reuters
4 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
WTA roundup: All-Czech final on tap in Prague
July 26 - No. 1 seed Linda Noskova and No. 5 Marie Bouzkova will meet in Saturday's all-Czech final at the Livesport Prague Open. Noskova rolled over No. 4 Xinyu Wang of China 6-4, 6-1 in 70 minutes and Bouzkova ousted countrywoman Tereza Valentova 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 54 minutes in Friday's semifinals. Bouzkova, 27, won her only title in Prague in 2022. Noskova, 20, picked up her maiden WTA Tour title at the 2024 Monterrey Open. Bouzkova has won two of their three previous matches, although Noskova took the most recent meeting at the 2024 Australian Open. Mubadala Citi D.C. Open Three unseeded players advanced to the semifinals in stifling, yet stormy conditions in Washington. In the first match of the day, 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain edged Greece's Maria Sakkari, 6-4, 7-5. Raducanu improved to 4-0 lifetime versus Sakkari. Canadian Leylah Fernandez ousted the final American in the draw, Taylor Townsend, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Townsend served for the second set at 5-4, but Fernandez broke and overcame cramping to win the match, as she scored the final four points of the tiebreaker. In the evening session, the lone ranked player to advance, Kazakhstan's No. 3 Elena Rybakina, knocked off Poland's No. 5 Magdalena Frech, 6-3, 6-3. Russia's Anna Kalinskaya broke No. 4 Clara Tauson of Denmark in the final game of the match to prevail 6-3, 7-5. Fernandez will face Rybankina and Raducanu takes on Kalinskaya in Saturday's semifinals. --Field Level Media
Reuters
6 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
WTA roundup: Maria Sakkari tops Emma Navarro in Washington
July 24 - Greece's Maria Sakkari upset second-seeded Emma Navarro 7-5, 7-6 (1) in the second round of the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Wednesday in Washington. Sakkari, a finalist in the event two years ago, finished with a 7-1 edge in aces and saved all three break points she faced. Third-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan emerged with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Victoria Mboko as the Canadian committed nine double faults. In other second-round matches, Russia's Anna Kalinskaya defeated eighth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland 6-4, 6-0, and fourth-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark outlasted Caroline Dolehide 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Livesport Prague Open Tereza Valentova, playing in her hometown, defeated second-seeded Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia 7-6 (1), 7-5 in the second round in Prague. Eighth-seeded Alycia Parks also stumbled against a Czech player, falling 7-6 (9), 6-3 to Sara Bejlek. Parks failed to take advantage of two set points in the first-set tiebreaker. Top-seeded Linda Noskova, also of the Czech Republic, downed Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-2, 6-4. Other winners were fourth-seeded Xinyu Wang of China, ninth-seeded Ann Li of the United States, France's Jessika Ponchet and fifth-seeded Marie Bouzkova and Katerina Siniakova, both of the Czech Republic. --Field Level Media
Reuters
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
WTA roundup: Top seed Linda Noskova passes Prague test
July 22 - No. 1 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic held off Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7) in first-round action Tuesday at the Livesport Prague Open. Noskova overcame 5-4 deficits in both tiebreaks to beat a player ranked No. 249 in the world. The home favorite will meet Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round. No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China ousted Britain's Harriet Dart 6-3, 6-3. Czech Katerina Siniakova knocked out No. 7 Elena Gabriela Ruse 7-5, 6-2. Also advancing were France's Leolia Jeanjean and Jessika Ponchet and Czechs Lucie Havlickova, Tereza Valentova, Dominika Salkova and Barbora Palicova. --Field Level Media
