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Serena Williams wins, Novak Djokovic upset

Serena Williams returns to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during a third round match at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Williams defeated Safarova, 7-5, 6-4.
Serena Williams returns to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during a third round match at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Williams defeated Safarova, 7-5, 6-4.
(Andre Pichette / EPA)
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Serena Williams advanced to the Rogers Cup quarterfinals Thursday at Montreal, waiting out a brief rain delay to beat Lucie Safarova, 7-5, 6-4.

On Friday, Williams will play Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-1, 6-0 winner over American qualifier Shelby Rogers.

In other matches, Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro upset fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, in a match delayed twice by rain, and Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova topped second-seeded Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

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The 25-year-old Suarez Navarro won the Portugal Open in May for her first WTA Tour title. She’ll face Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. Williams beat Angelique Kerber, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Makarova will play qualifier Coco Vandeweghe, a 7-6 (8), 2-6, 7-5 winner over seventh-seeded Jelena Jonkovic.

Also, eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka beat Heather Watson, 6-2, 6-4.

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Top-ranked Novak Djokovic was upset by 13th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Rogers Cup at Toronto, falling 6-2, 6-2 in only 63 minutes in the third round.

Djokovic came in with 11 straight wins over Tsonga but was nowhere near adding a 12th.

“Just nothing was going,” Djokovic said. “No baseline, no serve, no return. So just generally very bad day, very poor performance.”

Second-seeded Roger Federer avoided an upset, beating Marin Cilic, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-4.

Tsonga will play eighth-seeded Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Murray advanced when third-round opponent Richard Gasquet withdrew because of an abdominal strain.

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Djokovic’s loss was the second big upset of the day. Third-seeded Stan Wawrinka lost, 7-6 (8), 7-5, to Kevin Anderson. Anderson will play Grigor Dimitrov, a 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 winner over Tommy Robredo.

David Ferrer was pushed to three sets in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ivan Dodig. Canada’s Milos Raonic also advanced, beating Julien Benneteau of France, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Raonic will play Feliciano Lopez in the quarterfinals. Lopez beat Tomas Berdych, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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