Tennis: Israel's Glushko and Pe’er both fall; Radwanska tops Venus for title

Glushko, ranked No. 99 in the world, lost to Polona Hercog (71), while Pe’er (116) lost to Heather Watson (57) in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open.

By ALLON SINAI, REUTERS
Julia Glushko (photo credit: REUTERS)
Julia Glushko
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Julia Glushko and Shahar Pe’er came up short in their attempts to reach the main draw of the prestigious Cincinnati Open on Sunday, taking just seven games between them in the second round of qualifying.
Glushko, ranked No. 99 in the world, suffered a 6-3, 6-1 defeat to Polona Hercog (71), while Pe’er (116) lost 6-3, 6-0 to Heather Watson (57).
The 24-year-old Glushko impressed in her first round win over Bojana Jovanovski (32), who was seeded first in the qualifying tournament. But she failed to match that form against Hercog and was sent packing after just 57 minutes. Pe’er was ousted in a mere 54 minutes.
Meanwhile, Agnieszka Radwanska tamed Venus Williams 6-4, 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal on Sunday, the third seeded Pole setting herself up as a player to watch at the US Open.
It was the first title of the season for Radwanska but provides a timely jolt of confidence going into Flushing Meadows and the year’s final major, with 11 of her 14 career titles having come on hard courts.
Williams, a twice US Open champion, will also be buoyed by her performance in Montreal with a projected return on Monday to the world rankings top 20 for the first time since March 2013.
The tournament also pushed Williams past the $30 million in career earnings, joining an elite club that includes her sister Serena and Maria Sharapova.
After a grinding three-set win over top ranked sister Serena in Saturday’s semi, the 34-year-old American appeared to have little left against an energetic and focused opponent almost 10 years her junior.
Radwanska took control early on a sunny center court, breaking Williams twice to race in front 4-1.
Williams would break back but the Pole would not buckle and easily took the opening set.
The world No. 5 opened the second set with another deflating break to quickly put the pressure on Williams and then broke the dejected American again to go up 5-2 before holding serve and finishing off the match with an emphatic ace.
In the final of the men’s Rogers Cup in Toronto, Roger Federer faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga late Sunday night.
Federer eased into the final with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez on Saturday, putting the Swiss maestro on the brink of a landmark 80th career title.
Frenchman Tsonga dispatched seventh- seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3 in the semis.