Canadians Bouchard, Dancevic win opening matches at U.S. Open

Eugenie Bouchard, from Canada, returns a serve against Serena Williams during a match at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013, in Mason, Ohio. (AP / Al Behrman)

NEW YORK -- Canadians Eugenie Bouchard and Frank Dancevic won opening matches within seconds of each other to advances into the second round of the US Open on Monday.

Bouchard, of Montreal, Que., managed to find a way past Czech Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 to win in her US Open main draw debut. Dancevic, a product of Niagara Falls, Ont., defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7).

It was his Dancevic's victory in New York in four attempts after first-round losses in 2007, 2008 and 2011.

Bouchard needed two hours 16 minutes to advance, with 26 winners and 32 unforced errors in her battle on hard court.

The 19-year-old, ranked 59th, lost the opening set on a break but rallied back to take the second set after 91 minutes on the court. Bouchard hung tough in the final set, closing out the tight victory with a break in the final game form a return long over the baseline.

Dancevic, a qualifier who ranks 152nd, kept up his momentum in his four-set victory. The 28-year-old took a two-set-to-one lead and recovered in the fourth set after losing an early break against Haase.

Dancevic took it into a tiebreak, where he ran off a 4-0 lead before taking the victory on the third of four match points.

It was a late start for three of the four Canadians, with only Toronto's Sharon Fichman on court early. The No. 95 Fichman lost to Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who lost the Roger Cup final this month to Serena Williams. Cirstea took the match 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

Tenth seed Milos Raonic begins play on Tuesday against Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.