Toronto, Aug 11 : Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki lost the last six straight games to Roberta Vinci in a 6-4, 7-5 upset defeat in the second round of the Rogers Cup on Wednesday.
The world No. 1-ranked Wozniacki, who has won a WTA-leading five titles this year, was leading 5-1 in the second set and looking to rally from a set down, but the No. 22-ranked Vinci finished her off with three straight breaks of serve.
In other matches, former No. 1 Serena Williams and fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova both advanced.
Williams pulled out a tough second set to beat Julia Goerges 6-1, 7-6 (7), and Sharapova edged 19-year-old Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 6-1, 7-5 in a chilly evening match.
Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam tournament champion, used her intimidating serve to roll through her first set before the 20th-ranked Goerges hit back in the second.
Wozniacki had a bye in the first round and never really got going against Vinci.
“I would have liked to have won that one and especially after leading 5-1 in the second,” Wozniacki said. “It's not fun to lose this, but there's nothing really I can do about it now, just practice, and try to do better.”
Windy conditions wreaked havoc with Wozniaki's serve in the first set and she finished the match with seven double-faults.
“It was very difficult at first with the wind,” Wozniacki said. “Especially when you threw it up. It was going everywhere, so definitely that didn't make it easy. It was blowing in different directions, but it's the same for both players.”
Vinci reached the third round of the Rogers Cup in her third time in the tournament. She has wins this year in Barcelona, Budapest and Hertongenbosch.
“This is the best victory in my life,” the 28-year-old Italian said. “I was 5-1 down but I knew that I can win the set because it was a lot of wind, so some mistakes. I tried to stay focused and play aggressive. That's it, this is the key why I won the set.”
Williams also complained about the wind, which swirled around the court in gusts.
“It was just so much wind out there so it was a little difficult, but we were in the same circumstances so that's what I tried to think of. But she played really well,” Williams said.
Williams will next meet China's Zheng Jie, who advanced Tuesday night when second-seeded Kim Clijsters pulled out due to stomach muscle injury.
Sharapova's serve abandoned her in a second set that saw her commit five double-faults. The three-time Grand Slam champion finally sealed the victory when Jovanovski sent a return long.
“I expected my opponent to play well today because she's dangerous, although she's a qualifier she's someone who's moving up and young and eager, and has beaten good players before,” Sharapova said. “She's on her way up. So I knew that it was going to be a dangerous round knowing she had played a few matches already and this was my first match.”
In other results, Serbia's Ana Ivanovic beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic in a match that had to be moved from center court after the wind blew a light onto the surface and Australia's Samantha Stosur beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozkiak 6-3, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy eased into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
Schiavone capitalized on five of her nine break point opportunities to win in just more than an hour, as play was temporarily halted shortly after the match due to rain.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic ousted Romania's Simona Halep 6-2, 6-4.
A scheduled matchup between the top two Chinese players was canceled when Peng Shuai withdrew from her second-round match against world No. 6 Li Na with a left hip injury. Peng, who came into the match ranked No. 16, said she first sustained the injury last week in San Diego.
“It is sad for her,” Li said. “Always tough when you're playing same-country player. We train together, we know much (about each other). Always tough.” AP
