TORONTO (AP) — Top-seeded Coco Gauff defeated Yafan Wang 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of the National Bank Open on Thursday.
In preparation for defending her US Open title, Gauff played her first hard court match since the Miami Open in April.
“It’s not easy to switch from all these different surfaces in such a short period of time,” said the 20-year-old American, who was eliminated in the third round on clay at the Paris Olympics. “I’m glad I got through.”
In the night session, second-seeded Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka defeated Yue Yuan 6-2, 6-2.
Elise Mertens won a late match 6-3, 6-4 against Naomi Osaka. Osaka, a former No. 1 player with four Grand Slam titles, is back in form after her maternity leave.
Fourth-seeded Jelena Ostapenko had earlier defeated Paula Badosa 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Badosa won the Washington title on Sunday in her comeback from a back injury.
No. 5 Daria Kasatkina, No. 6 Liudmila Samsonova, No. 8 Emma Navarro and No. 10 Anna Kalinskaya advanced. No. 7 Madison Keys retired from her match against Peyton Stearns because of a thigh injury when she was trailing 3-0 in the third set.
Kasatkina defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-3; Samsonova defeated Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-2; Navarro defeated Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4; and Kalinskaya defeated Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-2.
Canadian Leylah Fernandez, seeded 15th, was eliminated with a 4-6, 2-6 loss to qualifier Ashlyn Krueger. Marina Stakusic, a 19-year-old wildcard player from nearby Mississauga, lost 0-6, 2-6 to Taylor Townsend.
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