Rogers Cup: Kyle Edmund and Katie Boulter knocked out on difficult opening day in Canada

British No 1 Edmund suffered defeat against Diego Schwartzman while Boulter missed her chance to break into the top 100 after losing to Lesia Tsurenko

(AP)

Kyle Edmund failed to clear the opening round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto after suffering a bruising 6-1 6-2 loss to Diego Schwartzman.

After rain delayed play, the British number one was dismissed in an hour by the Argentine number 11 seed on Monday evening.

Edmund appeared outgunned by Schwartzman from the off, losing his first service game as the world number 12 notched up three.

The Briton, ranked 16th by the ATP, made it on to the scoreboard in the fourth game, but he was broken again in the sixth and went on to lose the set.

Edmund, who after a bye was knocked out of the Citi Open's second round by Sir Andy Murray a week ago, appeared to have regained some composure as play resumed.

However, with the score 2-2, the match ran away from him in the fifth game, Schwartzman breaking his serve.

Edmund managed to save one break point in the seventh, but he was overcome by his opponent who took the match in the eighth.

Britain's Katie Boulter was also eliminated on a rain-hit first day at the Rogers Cup in Montreal while Venus Williams and Julia Goerges progressed.

Boulter suffered a straight-sets defeat to Lesia Tsurenko in 85 minutes, the Ukrainian winning the first-round tie 6-4 6-2.

The 22-year-old from Leicestershire had been targeting a victory that would probably have taken her in to the top 100 of the women's world rankings.

Boulter missed out on the chance to break into the top 100 (Getty) (Getty Images for LTA)

British number one Johanna Konta, meanwhile, and her Chinese partner Shuai Zhang were involved in an epic doubles match at the last-32 stage.

The pair recovered to beat Romanian duo Irina-Camelia Begu and Simona Halep 4-6 7-6 (7/1) 11-9 in a game lasting one hour and 45 minutes.

In other action, number 10 seed Julia Goerges came back from the brink to win in her match with Timea Babos.

The German lost the first set and the second went to a tie, but she fought on to win 3-6 7-6(7 /3) 6-4.

Goerges will play Lucie Safarova in the second round after she beat Daria Gavrilova.

Number 13 seed Williams saw off Caroline Dolehide 7-5 6-1, although her fellow American - who is 110 places below her in the WTA ranking - served well with three aces.

Serena Williams, who pulled out on the eve of the competition, revealed on Monday she had been dealing with the emotional strain of balancing motherhood with her search for further glory.

Back on court, Anastasija Sevastova beat Aleksandra Krunic to set up a second-round clash with number seven seed Garbine Muguruza and Anett Kontaveit defeated Ekaterina Makarova to meet number eight seed Petra Kvitova.

Magdalena Rybarikova beat Barbora Stycova to book a match with Caroline Garcia, the sixth seed.

PA