Glushko takes Stosur to three sets; Pe’er into China quarters

Pe'er secures her return to the world’s top 100 and will play in the US Open qualifiers later this month.

By ALLON SINAI
Julia Glushko 311 (photo credit: (Israel Tennis Association))
Julia Glushko 311
(photo credit: (Israel Tennis Association))
Julia Glushko was knocked out in the first round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto early Wednesday morning, but not before giving world No. 11 Sam Stosur a real run for her money.
The 23-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 137 in the world, took the first set and was up by a break early in the third set before eventually falling to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 defeat at 10:28pm local time.
“I ended this match with my head held high,” said Glushko, who had to qualify for the tournament and is still seeking her first ever WTA Tour main draw victory.
“I will save the video of this match and learn from it. This match made me understand that I can compete at the highest levels. This gives me a lot of motivation ahead of the US Open.”
Glushko and Shahar Pe’er will play in the US Open qualifiers later this month, with the latter securing her return to the world’s top 100 on Wednesday after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Suzhou tournament in China.
Pe’er (113) progressed to her third quarterfinal in her last four tournaments thanks to a 7-6, 6-3 win over Zarina Diyas (204) of Kazakhstan and will face Yi-Miao Zhou (139) of China in the last eight.
Meanwhile in Montreal, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic powered to a comprehensive 6-2, 6-1 win over Florian Mayer in his first match since Wimbledon at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday.
A fit and fresh looking Djokovic, who was beaten by Andy Murray to the All England Club crown, showed little signs of rust from a lack of recent match practice as he took just 56 minutes to advance on a warm Montreal evening.
The Serbian, renowned for his sense of humor and reputation as an entertainer, then celebrated his victory with some impromptu dancing in the center of the main arena, much to the delight of the fans who had stayed late to watch him.
“It’s the first game for me since Wimbledon, I had four weeks off but it was a great performance,” a smiling Djokovic said in a courtside interview once he had ended his crowd-pleasing antics.
The return of the two-time defending champion after a month off had followed Rafael Nadal’s first competitive match since his shock first round exit at Wimbledon.
It proved to be a successful, yet tense, one for Nadal as he and his doubles partner Pablo Andujar saved two match points before they beat Spanish compatriots David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez 6-7, 6-1, 12-10.Reuters contributed to this report.


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