World number one Ashleigh Barty crashed out of the WTA tournament in Toronto on Tuesday, falling in three sets in her second-round opener to 29th-ranked American Sofia Kenin.
Australia’s Barty, the French Open champion who was competing for the first time since a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon, battled back from an early break to take the opening set, but she was unable to do the same in the next two sets as 20-year-old Kenin triumphed 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4.
“It just wasn’t there today,” Barty admitted. “At times I was missing by big margins, which is not something that I’m very used to or comfortable with.”
The defeat puts Barty’s number one ranking in jeopardy, with both Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Czech Karolina Pliskova eyeing the top spot.
Second-seeded Osaka will open her campaign on Wednesday against Germany’s Tatjana Maria, and if the Japanese star wins there will be a new number one next week.
Osaka is the front-runner to return to the summit, but Pliskova could have a chance if she makes the semi-finals.
Pliskova next faces US qualifier Alison Riske, who saved three match points on the way to a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Croatia’s Donna Vekic also saved three match points on the way to a 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5) win over American Madison Keys.
There was no coming back, however, for seventh-seeded American Sloane Stephens, who fell 6-2, 7-5 to Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova.
Bouzkova, ranked 91st in the world, notched her first win over a top-50 player.
“I honestly still can’t believe it,” said Bouzkova, who broke Stephens five times — taking full advantage of the former US Open champion’s 48 unforced errors.
Stephens will now try to regroup with the US Open fast approaching, as will Barty — who insisted after her defeat “it’s not panic stations.”
Teenager Bianca Andreescu won her first match since Roland Garros, rallying to beat former world number five Eugenie Bouchard 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Canadian first-round clash that lit up the night session.
Andreescu, 19, shot to prominence with her triumph at Indian Wells in March, but she has battled a nagging shoulder injury since and was playing her first match since the French Open.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” Andreescu said. “But I’ve been preparing really well for the last couple weeks, and that preparation really showed tonight.”