By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday August 7, 2023

 

The former world No.1 will face the current No.1 in the second round at Montreal.

Photo Source: Robert Prange/Getty

Pliskova Sets Swiatek Clash

Former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova didn't get the best spor in the draw at this year's Omnium Banque Montreal, but she was a winner on Monday night in Montreal. The Czech topped China’s Zhu Lin 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-2 to set a second-round clash with World No.1 Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek holds a 2-0 lifetime edge over the 31-year-old, who is currently ranked 23.

“You have to find that balance between playing risky, aggressive, but not too risky, not too much because then she's not going to give you many points,” Pliskova said of facing the Pole, who famously handed Pliskova a double-bagel thrashing in the Rome final in 2021 (their last meeting went three sets this spring in Stuttgart).

“Of course, that's going to be the most difficult part to find what is too much and what is not enough. I believe I still have to serve well. Yeah, with a big game, there is going to be maybe some small chances.”



Brady Saves Two Match Points to Survive Ostapenko

It was a wild night in Montreal for another American as well, as Jennifer Brady, playing in just her second tour-level event since making her return from a prolonged hiatus last week at the Citi Open, saved a pair of match points to knock off Jelena Ostapenko, 7-6(7), 0-6, 7-6(8).

It was Ostapenko who Brady last faced in 2021, at Cincinnati – a match that saw her suffer a knee injury which would turn out to be the first in a long line of setbacks that kept her off the court for nearly two years.

Brady saved two set points to win the opener, then dropped the next nine games before rallying to win. She saved match points trailing 7-6 and 8-7 in the third-set tiebreak.