MONTREAL — Maria Sharapova advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over qualifier Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria on Tuesday.
Play resumed under the afternoon sun with Sharapova leading 4-1 in the first set after heavy rain and lightning forced organizers to suspend the match late Monday following a three-hour rain delay.
Sharapova, making her first Rogers Cup appearance since 2014, picked up where she left off Monday. She won six straight games after the restart and needed only 36 minutes to win the second set.
The 31-year-old had three aces and only committed two double faults to her opponent’s 11.
The Russian is 5-0 all time against the 229th-ranked Karatantcheva, who was playing in her first WTA main draw in more than a year.
Sharapova, ranked 22nd in the world, will face Daria Kasatkina of Russia (No. 12) or Maria Sakkari of Greece (No. 31) in the second round.
Earlier Tuesday, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko was eliminated after a 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-2 loss to Britain’s Johanna Konta.
Ostapenko, the 11th seed in Montreal, committed 10 double faults while struggling with her serve as she was eliminated in the first round at the Rogers Cup for the third straight year.
Konta had eight aces while committing just three double faults.
“Because of the back and forth in that first set, after that what I did well was I settled down,” said Konta, the former world No. 4. “I played myself into the match and tried to be as tough as possible.
“She has such a big game, so many big shots, sometimes you are spectator out there. When I had the opportunity to do the most I could, stay strong, I think I built up enough momentum. That’s why I was able to keep pushing through in the second and third.”
In other early matches, Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands made quick work of Carol Zhao of Canada, winning 6-1, 6-2 while world No. 8 Petra Kvitova outlasted Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 6-3, 6-4.
Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck cruised past Russian qualifier Sofya Zhuk 6-1, 6-2, and Sorana Cirstea beat Monica Niculescu 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Romanian matchup.
The 10th seed Julia Goerges of Germany came from a set down to beat qualifier Lucie Safarova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard and Francoise Abanda were set to play later Tuesday.
Garbine Muguruza, the tournament’s eighth seed, withdrew with an arm injury. Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig took her spot in the main draw.