In her first match since winning Wimbledon more than three weeks ago, sixth-seeded Czech Linda Noskova fell 7-6 (5), 6-1 to Caty McNally on Wednesday evening in the second round of the National Bank Open at Toronto.
McNally, ranked No. 70, trailed 5-1 in the first set before breaking Noskova twice to draw level at 5-5. She won four of Noskova’s six service points in the tiebreaker to win the 62-minute first set.
Noskova lapsed even further in the second set, only putting 32% of her first serves in and losing 33 of 51 points overall.
“It’s never easy playing anyone, but especially a Wimbledon champion,” McNally said in a postmatch on-court interview. “And she’s really dangerous, so I had to just focus on my side of the net. Even at the end, she’s gonna go out swinging. Just trying to do what I do best.”
Four other seeded players were eliminated from the 1000-tier event on Wednesday. Australia’s Maya Joint knocked out No. 14 Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-4, 6-4; Taylor Townsend bounced No. 21 Czech Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (4), 7-5; Russian Luidmila Samsonova ousted No. 22 Czech Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 7-5; and Russia’s Alina Korneeva breezed past No. 23 Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2.
The majority of the top-seeded players faced little resistance in advancing to the third round, but No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 3 Jessica Pegula had to sweat out three-set victories. Rybakina edged Australia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, while Pegula rallied to knock off Poland’s Magdalena Frech 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Rybakina was the definition of erratic, serving up 15 aces but also 16 double faults. She was able to break Kasatkina in the third game of the third set, fight off two break points in the eighth game and advance in her first hard-court action of the summer.
Pegula, who was facing Frech for the second time in the span of a week and competing two days after dropping the final of the Mubadala DC Open, said, “She’s a tough opponent, makes you play a lot of balls, makes you have to really beat her, and competes very well.
“I think having to face an opponent like that back-to-back is never easy, especially with a quick turnaround this week.”
In other matches, No. 4 Coco Gauff edged Kayla Day 6-2, 7-5; No. 5 Mirra Andreeva of Russia routed Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-2; No. 11 Naomi Osaka of Japan cruised by Hungary’s Panna Udvardy 6-2, 6-4; No. 12 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland defeated Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-1; No. 13 Iva Jovic knocked off Poland’s Magda Linette 6-3, 7-5; No. 20 Elise Mertens of Belgium rallied past Hungary’s Anna Bondar 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, No. 28 Ann Li ousted Canadian Kayla Cross 7-6 (2), 6-3; No. 29 Maria Sakkari of Greece outlasted Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez 6-3, 6-2; and No. 30 Canadian Leylah Fernandez routed Mexico’s Renata Zarazua 6-2, 6-2.
The final match of the night featured No. 25 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, fresh off her DC championship, and Alycia Parks.
–Field Level Media
