Montreal: Venus Williams advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup after a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Caroline Dolehide here, Monday.
The 14th-ranked Serena made quick work of her 19-year-old fellow American in the second set after coming from behind to win a back-and-forth first set.
It looked like an upset was in the cards in the early going. The 124th-ranked Dolehide, who was making her Rogers Cup debut, jumped to a 3-1 lead in the first set after breaking Venus’s serve. One of just two teenagers in the main draw, Dolehide used her heavy service game and aggressive play to challenge Venus on every point, but in the end experience prevailed.
The 38-year-old veteran broke Dolehide back to take a 4-3 lead, and she did it again in the deciding game of the first set.
Dolehide just couldn’t maintain the same pace in the second set, as Venus only lost 11 points on her way to victory.
Earlier, Eugenie Bouchard and partner Sloane Stephens upset the fifth-seeded duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Yifan Xu 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0) in first-round doubles action.
In singles, Julia Goerges of Germany avoided an early loss with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 win over Timea Babos of Hungary in a match that lasted nearly 150 minutes Anett Kontaveit of Estonia defeated Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
‘Postpartum blue’
Los Angeles: Serena Williams has said she is suffering from ‘postpartum emotions’ as the 23-time Grand Slam winner struggles to deal with juggling family life and tennis. “I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to three years if not dealt with,” Serena said Monday. She also described her mindset at the time of her worst career loss last week to Johanna Konta as being in a ‘funk’. ‘Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom,” Serena stated. She also said said she is trying to work through her despair by sharing her feelings with family and friends.
