Peroni Nastro Azzuro Refresh: Recap of Day 3 at the NBO

In what threatened to be an opening day washout, the rain held out for just long enough for fans to witness some world-class tennis as the main draw kicked off at IGA Stadium on Monday in Montreal.

The first victory of the day belonged to speedy Italian Jasmine Paolini, who pulled off a two-set win over Donna Vekic in front of the Court 9 crowd. That would be the only completed match before rain delayed play across Parc Jarry, with former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka leading Magda Linette 3-0 before being forced off.

Players would return to court for another half an hour before yet another rain delay, this one longer than the last. Spurred on by the possibility of yet more interrupted play, Azarenka was reuthlessly efficient upon resumption of her Court Central match, winning her second set against Linette without the loss of a single game, storming to a 6-3, 6-0 win.

Other day sessions results around the grounds included Karolina Pliskova’s three-set victory over Zhu Lin, Sorana Cirstea outlasting Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 7-6(3), and 2015 champion Belinda Bencic dispatching Lucia Bronzetti 6-2, 6-3 on Court Rogers.

The weather gods were kind as the night session – somewhat miraculously – was able to start on time, with the legendary Venus Williams taking to the main court against her hard-hitting compatriot Madison Keys. Although she was slow out of the gates and allowed a fairly swift first set to go the way of Keys, Venus showed that she still has all the quality she needs to compete at this level.

The 43-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam champion was able to compete hard in the second set, finishing longer rallies off with vintage volleys at the net – much to the delight of a very partisan Montreal crowd. Keys kept her composure though as eight match points came and went, ultimately closing out the match 6-2, 7-5 after nearly two hours of play.

Elsewhere, Sloane Stephens overcame some nerves in both sets to close out Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 7-6(2), and Jennifer Brady – just a few events into her comeback after over a year of injury rehab – knocked out Jelena Ostapenko in a topsy-turvy 7-6(7), 0-6, 7-6(8) epic out on Court 9.