Aleksandra Wozniak returns the ball to Croatia's Petra Martic at the French Open on Thursday. (Michel Euler/Associated Press)Quebec's Aleksandra Wozniak matched her career-best at a major tournament Thursday at the French Open, winning her second-round match to advance to the third round at Roland Garros.
She wasn't the only successful Canadian on the courts on Thursday, as Toronto's Daniel Nestor and partner Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia opened the tournament with a victory.
The top-seeded pair, who regained their No. 1 ranking after winning four of their last five tournaments on clay, beat Lucas Arnold Ker and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina, 6-3, 6-4.
Nestor and Zimonjic will next play the Czech team of David Skoch and Leos Friedl.
Wozniak, seeded No. 24, beat Croatian Petra Martic 6-3, 6-3.
In the third round, the Blainville, Que., native will play Spain's Lourdes Domininguez, who she lost to last April. But Wozniak, 21, said the shoulder she's still rehabbing was far worse then.
"The shoulder is fine now," she said. "I still do exercises and a lot of treatment. It was a tear so it takes a long time to recover.
"I'm being careful with it, but I feel fine."
A finalist in April at Ponte Vedra, Fla., Wozniak said she held her nerve when Martic was leading in the second set.
"I had to play aggressive to stay with her," she said. "The momentum changed for my side when I was down 3-2 in the second set. I broke her serve and then held mine. I thought I played well tactically today."
With files from The Canadian Press
