Katie Boulter sets up Coco Gauff clash at Canadian Open, Madison Keys takes ninth match point to beat Venus Williams

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 08/08/2023 at 09:55 GMT

British No. 1 Katie Boulter needed just over an hour to beat Rebecca Marino in her first match at the Canadian Open in Montreal. Boulter was impressive on serve as she advanced to a clash against sixth seed Coco Gauff. Madison Keys ousted Venus Williams while Jennifer Brady came through a rollercoaster match against Jelena Ostapenko, and Victoria Azarenka also won.

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Katie Boulter produced a strong display to beat Rebecca Marino in the first round of the Canadian Open.

The British No. 1, who came through qualifying at the WTA 1000 event, won 6-3 6-1 to advance to the second round.

Boulter will next face sixth seed Coco Gauff, who won the Citi Open in Washington DC at the weekend.

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On a rain-interrupted day in Montreal, Boulter needed just over an hour to beat Marino.

Her serving was the key to the win as she won 90.6 per cent of first-serve points. She also broke serve four times and saved all four break points she faced on her own serve.

Boulter is the only Brit in the main draw of the WTA event.

Madison Keys took her ninth match point as she beat Venus Williams 6-2 7-5.

Williams saved seven match points when Keys served for the win and broke to get back to 5-5.

But Keys responded by breaking straight back and then closed out the win to set up a clash with Jasmine Paolini.

Jennifer Brady saved two match points in a rollercoaster win over Jelena Ostapenko.

Former US Open runner-up Brady returned to the WTA Tour at the Citi Open earlier this month following a two-year absence.

Her last match before the lengthy spell out was against Ostapenko in Cincinnati in 2021, when Brady sustained a knee injury.

This time she overcame Ostapenko 7-6(7) 0-6 7-6(8) in the first round in Montreal.

"I have no idea how I won that match," Brady said.

"On the court I don't feel like I'm moving as good as I want to, I'm not hitting the ball as deep or heavy as I want to. I'm not playing good tennis, I'm just playing tennis. That's how I feel on court.

"I knew it was the last match I played before I was injured. I was really looking forward to it. I wish I could have played a better match, but who cares. People only look at the result, so I'm happy that I somehow won this match."

Brady will next face third seed Elena Rybakina.

She was 3-0 down in the third set against Ostapenko and says she was just trying to avoid a bagel set.

"I don't want to lose 0 and 0. It's embarrassing. I just wanted to get off the court. I don't want to be here at all. But then she gave me a little bit of an opening, a few unforced errors. Then in the tie-break, same thing as the first set. Just tried to stay in there.

"It helps me going forward in every match that I play. It's not over until the fat lady sings and she wasn't singing yet. She was humming. She was humming in my ear."

Karolina Pliskova recorded a 6-3 6-7(8) 6-2 victory over Zhu Lin and will next face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

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Looking ahead to the clash with Swiatek, Pliskova said: “"She can really make you feel, like, not lost, but I mean, she doesn't give you many free points.

"You have to find that balance between playing risky, aggressive, but not too risky, not too much, because then [Swiatek's] not going to give you many points. Of course, that's going to be the most difficult part, to find what is too much and what is not enough."

Victoria Azarenk was a 6-3 6-0 winner against Magda Linette.

Caroline Wozniacki makes her return to the tour on Tuesday as she faces qualifier Kimberly Birrell.

She could then face Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round.

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