Azarenka into Rogers Cup second round

Belarus number one Victoria Azarenka who is currently world number 21 beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine (World No.15) 6-1, 5-4 in the opener of the $2.5 million Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada.

The Belarusian will face World No.4 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the second round.

Fellow Belarusian Olga Govortsova (77) also had a good start in the tournament. After qualifying for the Rogers Cup main draw, Olga Govortsova upset World No. 30 Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in its opener. The Belarusian will next take on World No.6 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.

The Rogers Cup in Canada, which is over on 16 August, is a lead-in tournament to the final Grand Slam event of the year, the US Open that will take place in New York from 31 August through 13 September 2015.