Venus Williams held off Irina-Camelia Begu in a rain-delayed match to score a long-awaited first win in Toronto.
Williams advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup with a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win over the Romanian, her first victory in five visits to the tournament.
The seven-time major champion fell at the first hurdle in Toronto in 1995, 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2015 – but finally broke the duck this year.
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"This is my first win in Toronto dating back to 1995!" –@VenusesWilliams #RogersCup pic.twitter.com/7M4n8xfJQw
— WTA (@WTA) August 8, 2017
On even-numbered years, the Rogers Cup is held in Montreal; there in 2014, Williams advanced to the final.
Next up for the No.9 seed is Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, who beat Mariana Duque-Marino in three sets.
“I’ve had to wait more than 20 years to win a match here, so it was really sweet,” Williams said.
“I played an opponent who was warm and played a lot of matches in qualifying, so all credit to her for taking it to a third set. I hit a lot of balls, so it’ll give me the opportunity to think about what I can do better.
“We never played before, so I really didn’t know what to expect. The first set I was playing great, the second set I missed some and then there was the rain, so the match was very up and down. She really knows how to compete and how to get into the match, even if it was a 6-1 (first) set.
“I’m hoping to play a more streamlined match next round. I want to win all my matches straightforward – never lose serve and hit big winners. I will say that the wins I really remember are the tough ones.”
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