Two former champions cruised through first-round matches at the Rogers Cup on Monday, as Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki and Switzerland's Belinda Bencic each won in straight sets in Toronto.
Wozniacki, the 2010 winner of the event and the 15th seed this week, handled Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-2 in 87 minutes. Bencic, the 2015 winner and 11th seed this week, dispatched Russia's Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-1 in just 64 minutes.
Wozniacki overcame a sluggish start, as her serve was broken in the first game of the match. She quickly righted the ship, thwarting the only other break point she faced and breaking Putintseva's serve twice in a row to close both sets.
The former world No. 1 will next face the winner of Tuesday's match between Poland's Iga Swiatek and Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic.
Bencic broke Potapova to open each set and five times overall, while never facing a break point on her own serve. Her biggest challenge was closing out the match, as she finally converted her fourth match point on the 17th point of the final game.
Bencic will next face Germany's Julia Goerges, who survived Slovakia's Polona Hercog 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5).
Meanwhile, Johanna Konta of Great Britain was quickly ousted, as Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska upset the 13th seed 6-3, 6-2 in 80 minutes. It was Konta's first action since losing in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
American Sofia Kenin moved on with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh, setting up a second-round meeting on Wednesday with world No. 1 and top seed Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Barty is 3-0 against Kenin in her career, including two victories in 2019.
Others to advance in the early wave on Monday were American Jennifer Brady, Belgian Elise Mertens and Czech Marie Bouzkova, each of whom will face a top-eight seed in the second round on Wednesday.
Brady draws No. 4 Simona Halep of Romania, who won the event in 2016 and 2018. Mertens will face No. 8 Serena Williams (NYSE:WMB), a three-time champion (2001, 2011, 2013), and Bouzkova will meet No. 7 Sloane Stephens, the 2018 runner-up.
Other seeded players in action late Monday included No. 12 Angelique Kerber of Germany -- who was set to face Russia's Daria Kasatkina -- and No. 16 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, who was taking on Russia's Maria Sharapova.
--Field Level Media