Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Wozniacki were among the early advancers at the 2017 Rogers Cup in Toronto on Thursday. Pliskova faced a test in the round of sixteen as her opponent, Naomi Osaka, extended the World No. 1 to a third set. Osaka had to retire from the match after winning a second-set tiebreaker with an abdominal injury. That sent Pliskova through to the quarterfinals in Toronto where she will face Wozniacki.
Wozniacki demolished Radwanska
The Dane appears to be on sharp form as she dismissed the 10-seed in the event, Agnieszka Radwanska.
The line score in that match was 6-3, 6-1 in the Dane's favor. Wozniacki, who spent only 77 minutes on court in the round of sixteen, has generally been sharp this season, often advancing through the early stages of the tournaments that she has entered. But thus far in 2017 she has not closed a tournament out the way she knows how to. With the World No. 1 up next, Wozniacki will be put to the test. However, the Dane is certainly capable of defeating Pliskova, making their upcoming match one that appears to be wide open.
The players have bumped into one another in tour matches a lot in recent seasons. They have met three times in 2017 alone with two of the matches going Pliskova's way. Most recently they played on grass in Eastbourne with Pliskova winning that in straight sets.
Wozniacki did win their most recent hard-court match at Miami earlier this season. Overall the Dane is 4-2 against Pliskova despite suffering two losses to the current World No. 1 this season.
With a Sunday final scheduled, all the quarterfinals will have to be played on Friday. The order of play for that day in Toronto is still pending at the time of writing.
Pliskova will likely enter the match as the favorite due to her beating Wozniacki two out of three times this season. Furthermore, Pliskova, as the current World No. 1, is the one who has won more big matches in the last year. Both of these players are candidates for the late rounds of the 2017 US Open, and fans of women's tennis will be keen on seeing which of the two is stronger at this point.
Caroline Wozniacki closes out Radwanska 63 61 after a mini-surge from a set and 5-0 down. World No.1 Pliskova next. #RogersCup
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) August 10, 2017
Other early results from Toronto
Other early-Thursday results from Toronto saw Caroline Garcia advance in the women's draw. She defeated teenager Catherine Bellis in straight sets. Garcia appears to be coming into her own at this point in her career. She awaits the winner of Simona Halep and Barbora Strycova, a match that will be played later. Lucie Safarova also enjoyed a victory on Thursday as she defeated Ekaterina Makarova in three sets.
