NEU » n at the annual Bluegrass Invitational on Saturday

TORONTO -- Rogers Cup fans got a glimpse of whats been touted as the next big thing in American tennis for some time. Sloane Stephens debuted at the womens tournament Monday with a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Frances Kristina Mladenovic in the opening round. The world No. 17-ranked Stephens has been labelled the natural successor to Serena and Venus Williams in the American womens game. This year shes proving why, with a semifinal showing at the Australian Open and quarter-final appearance at Wimbledon. Stephens insists she doesnt let the hype affect her game. "Obviously most of the attention I get is pretty positive," said Stephens. "Its because people want to see me do well and Im American and thats awesome, but I mean theres a little downfall of that too. There is a lot of pressure ... and things like that. "You just have to deal with it and play hard and imagine what (Andy) Murray deals with in England and what Serena has dealt with for so many years. Its definitely tough but people have done it before." The 20-year-old Stephens battled back from down 5-3 in the second set to win the match in 90 minutes, 40 seconds. She looked strong from the first game as she broke Mladenovic twice to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The No. 39-ranked Frenchwoman tried to play aggressive by attacking the net, but Stephens blew a forehand by her to make it 4-0. "She comes in a lot and volleys really well," said Stephens. "I knew probably she was going to press a little and make me play more balls. But I tried to stay with it and hit a lot of angles and move her and it seemed to work." Mladenovic had a chance to break and make it 4-2 but returned the ball long, then wide before Stephens reversed momentum to win the game and pull ahead 5-1. Mladenovic appeared en route to forcing a third set with a 5-3 lead in the second, but Stephens won three straight games before closing out the match in a tiebreak. "She upped her game a lot in the second set," said Stephens. "Some nights its going to be up and down, but I thought I stayed pretty solid and got through it." Stephens will next face Germanys Mona Barthel, who advanced with a 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Chinas Jie Zheng. Carol Zhao, meanwhile, became the first Canadian ousted from the tournaments main draw. The 18-year-old qualifier from nearby Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-1, 6-3 to Russias Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Zhao, making her first appearance in the Rogers Cup main draw, looked overpowered by the Russian in the first set but fought back for a 3-0 lead in the second. "I think I just tried to simplify my game plan (in the second set), and I think it rattled her a little bit," said Zhao. "I think the next step for me is trying to maintain that level of play for a longer period of time." Pavlyuchenkova rallied back to make it 4-3 before winning the match on serve. Shell meet four-seed Li Na of China in the second round. Zhao says the experience of playing her first Rogers Cup will be a lasting memory. "I think there is nothing really like coming to play the Rogers Cup. This is a tournament I grew up watching," said Zhao. "Getting an opportunity to play in the main draw is a dream come true." Most of the pre-tournament buzz has been around her fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard who lost in doubles on Monday with partner Kirsten Flipkens of Germany. The duo fell to Oksana Kalashnikova and Alicja Rosolska 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. Bouchard, a Westmount, Que., native who is the main draw on a wild card, will play her first singles match on Tuesday night against Russias Alisa Kleybanova. Bouchard turned heads at Wimbledon this year when she advanced to the third round with victory over former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. Flavia Pennetta and Yanina Wickmayer were among the early winners in Mondays opening round. Pennetta of Italy became the first player through to the second round after she eliminated Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Belgiums Wickmayer ousted American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. Mattek-Sands was called upon shortly before the match after Britains Laura Robson pulled out with a right wrist injury. Known for her eye-catching fashion sense, Mattek-Sands sported black socks and wrist bands with a streak of green in her blonde hair. The world No. 32-ranked Robson -- set to make her Rogers Cup debut -- joins a list of injured players who withdrew from the tournament, including top-5 seeds Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. Robson was coming off a strong performance at Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round -- the first British woman to do it since 1998. In other early results Monday, Dominika Cibulkova knocked off fellow Slovakian Jana Cepelova 7-5, 6-4; Romanias Sorana Cirstea moved on with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ukrainian qualifier Olga Savchuk; 10-seed Roberta Vinci of Italy beat Germanys Julia Goerges 2-6, 6-4, 6-3; Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands defeated American Alison Riske 6-4, 1-6, 6-3; Varvara Lepchenko of the U.S. won 6-3, 6-1 over Ayumi Morita of Japan; and Klara Zakopalova was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 winner over fellow Czech Lucie Safarova. Air Max Offerta Online . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. Air Max Saldi Italia .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. http://www.airmaxscontateoutlet.it/ . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Air Max Scontate Online . Schenn scored the game-winning goal and added two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday. Air Max Saldi Online . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Mens Runner of the Week: Jacob Thomson, KentuckyKentuckys Jacob Thomson edged Illinois Jonathan Davis for second place in 24:32.50 at the Bluegrass Invitational.His time is the fastest 8k in the SEC this season by nearly 40 seconds.Thomson finished second - two seconds behind EKUs Eric Rotich, who ran 25:30.50 en route to being named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.Womens Runner of the Week: Katy Kunc, KentuckyKentuckys Katy Kunc won her second individual race in a row to lead the UK womens cross country team to a second straight dual-meet team win at the annual Bluegrass Invitational on Saturday at Masterson Station Park.Kunc repeated as Bluegrass Invitational Champion, running 17:06.20, .40 seconds better than her time at the same meet a year ago. The time is the fastest 5k in the SEC this year.Kunc also won the Wildcat Opener and then Bluegrass Opener to start her 2015 season.ddddddddddddMens Freshman of the Week: Erik Armes, AuburnAuburns Erik Armes scored at a meet for the first time in his career last week at the Furman Classic.He was one of six freshmen to finish inside the top-20 in a meet that featured No. 20 Furman and Clemson.Armes finished 20th with a time of 26:22.58.Womens Freshman Runner of the Week: Anna Elkin, Ole MissOle Miss Anna Elkin set a personal best time for the 5K in the Rebel Invite last week in Oxford, Miss.In her first college race, she was the first freshman to finish the race, while finishing 13th overall in 17:40.40.She set a personal best time for the 5K by 17 seconds. ' ' '