WTA Toronto: Defending champion Pegula makes strong start

American Jessica Pegula, the No 3 seed, defeated Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4 to reach the last 16 of the WTA National Bank Open at the Aviva Centre on Wednesday night.

Pegula, ranked No 6, will face the winner of the match between American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger and Canadian Leylah Fernandez, the No 15 seed, next.

In the previous round of the Rogers Cup, Pliskova, ranked No 45, won against Argentinian Nadia Podoroska (6-4, 7-6 (10)).

Toronto WTA 1000, other second-round results (Aviva Centre, hard, USD 3.211.715, most recent results first):

• Naomi Osaka vs. Elise Mertens
• Yue Yuan vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Victoria Azarenka vs. Greet Minnen
• Paula Badosa vs. Jelena Ostapenko
• Beatriz Haddad Maia vs. Katie Boulter
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Peyton Stearns vs. Madison Keys
• Ashlyn Krueger vs. Leylah Fernandez
• Taylor Townsend vs. Marina Stakusic
• Emma Navarro vs. Magda Linette
• Moyuka Uchijima vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Coco Gauff vs. Yafan Wang
• Lesia Tsurenko vs. Anna Kalinskaya
• Elina Svitolina vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Magdalena Frech vs. Diana Shnaider