Sharapova out of Montreal

MONTREAL — World No. 2 Maria Sharapova has withdrawn from the Montreal Cup because of a bad stomach virus that has been bothering the Olympic silver medalist since the London Games, Tennis Canada said Wednesday.

The third-seeded Russian, who was demolished 6-0, 6-1 by Serena Williams in the gold medal match of the London Olympics Saturday, is set to return home Wednesday.

Sharapova, who had a first-round bye in Montreal, was scheduled to play either American Christina McHale or Dutch qualifier Arantxa Rus.
Aleksandra Wozniak, meanwhile, was over her first hurdle at the event Tuesday.

The veteran battled to a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in first-round play.

Wozniak, ranked 55th to Hantuchova’s 35th, broke service for a 6-5 second-set lead, but let three match points slip away to take it to a tiebreaker.

Then a light rain wet the court just enough to force a 55-minute delay.

They returned to mostly empty seats as most of the centre court crowd went home, but even without as much hometown support she held on to take the tiebreak.

Wozniak will next face former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

There was a big high and a crashing low for Stephanie Dubois, who wasted a chance to upset 41st-ranked Chanelle Scheepers but ended up dropping a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 decision.

Scheepers advanced to a second-round meeting with 14th-seeded Flavia Pennetta.

The 16 seeded players have a bye to the second round, including top-seeded Victoria Azarenka.

Azarenka, the top seed, will open against Austrian Tamira Paszek, who won her first match 6-2, 6-1 over Julia Goerges of Germany. — Agencies