Toronto: Ostapenko stunned in first round

Jelena Ostapenko was stunned in the first round of the WTA Rogers Cup in Toronto on Monday, falling in three sets to Varvara Lepchenko.

The reigning Roland Garros champion led 6-1 3-0 before the American stormed back to win 1-6 7-6(2) 7-6(5), advancing to the second round where she will meet either Sorana Cirstea or Caroline Garcia.

Ostapenko, who also reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, trailed 5-2 in the third set before staging a comeback.

A very emotionally intense on-court coaching. Ostapenko is upset. pic.twitter.com/Ah9axM0Gzm

— Ashish Jena (@ashishjena94) August 7, 2017

Yet she couldn’t complete victory, falling in two hours and 36 minutes to the former world No.19.

“I think I woke up, I was a little bit in the sleeping mode for a set and a half,” Lepchenko said.

“All the credit to her, she played amazing tennis – she hardly missed any ball from the very beginning. Once I gave her a little push back, that’s when the game started. I pretty much focused on my game.

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“I know I have powerful shots and I’m as good a player as her, so I knew I just had to give my best, and it would be a battle.”

Another seed, No.13 Kristina Mladenovic, also exited at the first hurdle, falling 6-2 6-3 to Barbora Strycova.

Since reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open, Mladenovic has gone a lukewarm 7-6 in her next 13 matches.

Advancing to the second round was 14th seed Petra Kvitova and 11th seed Dominika Cibulkova.

Kvitova saw off former top-10 player Carla Suarez Navarro 6-1 7-6(5) while Cibulkova overcame Lesia Tsurenko 7-6(3) 6-4.

Cibulkova had only won four of her past 11 matches but notched a confidence-boosting win over a solid opponent to set up a meeting with either Lucie Safarova or Francoise Abanda.

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Kvitova next takes on Sloane Stephens, the American who scored her first victory in her comeback to tennis after beating Yulia Putintseva in three sets.

The 6-7(4) 6-0 6-4 victory was the former world No.11’s first singles win since Wimbledon 2016; she then missed 11 months with a foot injury that required surgery.

Also advancing to the second round were No.15 seed Anastasija Sevastova, Japanese rising star Naomi Osaka and Darias Kasatkina and Gavrilova.