Venus Williams wins Rogers Cup opener

Venus Williams, coming off a three-set loss in the final at Stanford, Calif., on Sunday, got her next tournament off to a good start Wednesday.

The 36-year-old American routed the Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-0 in a second-round match at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

"I'm never happy with my matches," Williams said. "Even an easy score line is never enough, but it's about figuring out how to win instead of playing perfect."

Williams, who is seeded sixth in the event, had a first-round bye.

Other second-round winners Wednesday included second-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany, fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy, ninth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 10th-seeded American Madison Keys, 12th-seeded Petra Kvitova and 14th-seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, 15th-seeded Johanna Konta of Great Britain and 17th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.

Konta defeated Williams in the Bank of the West Classic final on Sunday for her first career singles title.

Seeded losers Wednesday were No. 8 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, who fell 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Slovakian qualifier Kristina Kucova, and No. 11 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, who lost 6-2, 6-0 to Eugenie Bouchard of Canada, and 13th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia.

--No. 1-rated Novak Djokovic, back in action for the first time since his shocking loss in the third round at Wimbledon, edged France's Gilles Muller 7-5, 7-6 (3) in a second-round Rogers Cup match at Toronto.

"Gilles Muller is a very difficult player to play against in quick conditions," Djokovic said. "He takes away the time of the opponent. He serves and volleys second serve a lot, as well, which he's one of the rare guys that does that. He likes to play quick, and I think the warm day like today played a lot in his favor."

In other second-round action, winners included third-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, fourth-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada, seventh-seeded David Goffin of Belgium, 10th-seeded Gael Monfils of France, 12th-seed Bernard Tomic of Australia and 16th-seeded American Jack Sock.

In an all-American battle, Ryan Harrison upset ninth-seeded John Isner 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 6-4. Seeded losers were No. 6 Dominic Thiem of Austria, No. 8 Marin Cilic of Croatia and No. 13 Lucas Pouille of France.