The second round is in the books at the 2019 Rogers Cup. It’s been a good week so far and there have been so many closely contested matches. On Wednesday, seven of the 13 matches went the distance with just the one seed going out in the last match of the day where Iga Swiatek beat Caroline Wozniacki. Read on for the highlights from Wednesday’s day session in Toronto.
Match reviews 🎾
Dayana Yastremska d. Victoria Azarenka, 7-5 7-5 (R2)
Dayana Yastremska hit 47 winners in another impressive win, beating Victoria Azarenka in two tight sets. Yastremska wasted a 5-1 lead in the opening set but then rallied from 3-5 down in the second set, playing a fearless return game when Azarenka served for the set. Yastremska’s return has to be one of the most dangerous on the WTA as she is not afraid to go close to the lines.
Serving at *5-6 in the second set, Azarenka couldn’t buy a first serve and chucked in a couple of doubles too. Yastremska had her ups and downs during the match, but managed to outhit Azarenka most of the time. I really thought the summer hard court season would be Azarenka’s time to shine but it hasn’t happened for her yet. Yastremska is pushing on after her best Slam result last month. She’ll get a Wimby rematch against Sofia Kenin in the next round which I think is going to become a standard match-up on the WTA tour for many years to come.
Belinda Bencic d. Julia Goerges, 5-7 6-3 6-4 (R2)
Belinda Bencic extended her winning streak in Toronto to eight with a three set win over Julia Goerges. After two subdued sets, the third was was a rather dramatic affair as the pair had words after one point. Goerges took a nasty tumble and I would guess she was pissed because Bencic celebrated loudly at winning the point (I think Bencic didn’t see Goerges fall as it was at the end of the point). The pair both then argued separately with someone in the crowd who was eventually removed from the stands.
Goerges’s serve was the difference in the opening set but her first serve percentage fell away in the decider and she became increasingly error-strewn in all aspects of her game with wild groundstrokes and missed volleys. Credit to Bencic who stayed in contention, saving all five break points faced in the second set, and was ultimately the steadier of the pair in the deciding set. It was nice to see the pair have a lengthy chat at the end and settle their differences, ending with a hug 🤗.
Stat watch 🔢
Via Tennis Abstract, Bianca Andreescu is now 13-3 in three set matches in 2019. Andreescu toughed out what had looked liked an unlikely win at times over Daria Kasatkina, 5-7 6-2 7-5. Despite the loss, I feel Kasatkina is slowly turning her year around. It’s the same issue though with Dasha struggling to commit consistently to a more aggressive gameplan. Her coach, Carlos Martinez, came out on court and reiterated that she needed to play to win and not wait for errors.
LOL moment 🤣
Enjoyed this!
Recommended reading 📚
Get to know Marie Bouzkova.
Recommended media 📺
Anett Kontaveit talked about Estonia in a post-match interview on the Rogers Cup social media sites.
Tomorrow’s OOP ⭐
Third round matches will be played in Toronto on Thursday. Decent line-up!
Moo's Tennis Blog 
When did Carlos Martinez start working with Kasatkina? Always loved his rapport with Sveta, but I think he’s the wrong choice for Daria! Kuznetsova became noticeably less aggressive under him, and the younger Russian needs a coach who is going to push her to take more risks…
Really hoping Svitolina beats Bencic and builds more confidence. That loss to Sakkari last week from a set and 41 up must have HURT, especially after making the Wimbledon SF.
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I think Kasatkina has trained at the Martinez academy for a while but the first time I know of where she had him as coach was at Eastbourne. Now that Kuznetsova is playing again, he seems to be coaching them both. A busy evening for him yesterday as Kasatkina finished her match just as Kuznetsova was starting!
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Yes I heard that he was at Kuznetsova’s match as well?! Great win for Sveta yesterday, didn’t expect that.
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Martinez did say in his chat with Kasatkina on court yesterday that she needed to play to win. But it’s always the same with Dasha, all of her coaches have repeated the same things to her on court about needing to play more aggressively. I feel she’s playing much better compared to the start of the year but still a long way to go. I think I read Svitolina took a medical time-out yesterday in her match vs. Siniakova? I would have picked Bencic to win today but who knows!
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Yes, Svitolina had treatment for what looked like a problem with her right lower back after the first set, she seemed in real pain. I think you’re right that Bencic is favourite today.
It was fascinating to hear Martinez speaking in English when he came on, let’s hope that Kasatkina doesn’t become fluent in Spanish any time soon!
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Svitolina had a trainer on for her back, but oddly I would say it was one of her best matches of the year. Siniakova is always one of the most fun to watch, and she repeatedly came up with magic. But Svitolina kept being aggressive. She served really well at times, but on others was still rolling it in…
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