Johanna Konta and Harriet Dart both make progress at the National Bank Open in Montreal but Cam Norrie joins Dan Evans in exiting the men's event in Toronto; Rafael Nadal returns to action against South Africa's Lloyd Harris on Wednesday
Tuesday 10 August 2021 21:15, UK
British No 1 Johanna Konta put a frustrating six weeks behind her as she made a winning return to action at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
Konta had to withdraw from Wimbledon after coming into close contact with a positive case of Covid-19 and subsequently contracted the virus herself to miss the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In a strange twist of fate, Konta was back on the court against Zhang Shuai, the same opponent she last played in the final of the Nottingham Open in June.
While the former world No 4 lost the first set 4-6, she was ahead 5-2 in the second when Zhang retired due to a left leg injury.
Next up for Konta is a last-32 meeting with Elina Svitolina and she is joined in the next round by fellow Briton Harriet Dart, who defeated Leylah Fernandez 7-5 7-6 (7-4) to book a clash with Bianca Andreescu.
It was a different story at the men's event in Toronto where British No 2 Cam Norrie followed Dan Evans in exiting the tournament in the first round.
Evans, who also missed the Olympics due to testing positive for Covid-19, was knocked out by Alexander Bublik in straight sets on Monday and while Norrie fared better against Karen Khachanov, it was the Russian who triumphed 6-4 5-7 6-4.
The Briton had started his hard-court campaign with victory at the Los Cabos Open last month and pushed Olympic silver medallist Khachanov all the way in Canada.
After the Russian won the first set, Norrie levelled but ultimately paid the price for only taking two of 10 break points.
Khachanov was predictably strong on serve and sent down 10 aces to claim victory in two hours and 33 minutes.
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