Stosur and Kvitova Reach Third Round at Rogers Cup

By Chris Oddo

(August 8, 2012) -- World No. 5 Sam Stosur survived a scary start against Simona Halep in Montreal, fighting her way back from 5-1 down in the first set to defeat the Romanian 7-5, 4-4 (ret.).

The victory was only Stosur’s second win since reaching the French Open semifinals in June.

In between there was the horrible grass-court season, which saw the 2011 US Open champion lose in the second round at Wimbledon and the first round of the Olympics.

Stosur, a finalist in Toronto last year (lost to Serena Williams), will face Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in the third round.

Stosur saved four set points in the tenth game of the first set against the World No. 48. She fell behind 0-40, before rallying to deuce. After falling behind again, Stosur outmanoeuvred Halep in a thrilling 23-stroke rally that the Aussie ended with a nifty forehand volley into the open court.

In the second set Halep sought treatment for a left thigh injury after the third and fifth games, and after dropping a 4-2 lead, finally retired due to injury tied at 4-4.

Halep's retirement was the second of the evening in Montreal, as fourteenth-seeded Flavia Pennetta was also forced to retire while leading 4-1 in the first set against Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.

Kvitova Comes Back to Defeat Pervak in Three Sets

Petra Kvitova also got off to a slow start against Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan in the first match of the evening session. The World No. 6 missed on all six break points she created to fall behind by a set, and in the second set the left-handed Pervak actually served for the match only to get broken and then blanked in a tiebreaker.

In the third set the former Wimbledon champ found her range, winning 25 of 34 points to bagel pervak.

Kvitova, who has yet to win a title in 2012, advances to face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Shuai Peng and Marion Bartoli.

Young North Americans Prevail to Reach Second Round

18-year-old Canadian wildcard Eugenie Bouchard upset Shahar Peer 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 today for her second career win against top 100 opposition. Bouchard, a junior Wimbledon champion this year, has now won 20 consecutive matches against junior and professional competition.

Bouchard will face Na Li in round two.

20-year-old American Christina McHale also came back from a set down today. The World No. 26 defeated Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 and will face Galina Voskoboeva in the second round. Voskoboeva is taking the place of Maria Sharapova after the Russian pulled out of the draw with a stomach ailment.

Other first-round winners on Tuesday include Shuai Peng (d. Rezai), Varvara Lepchenko (d. Pavlyuchenkova), Kiki Bertens (d. Nadia Petrova) and Mona Barthel (d. Timea Babos).

Second-round winners were Sara Errani (d. Jana Cepelova), Lucie Safarova (d. Karatantcheva) and Chanelle Scheepers (d. Flavia Pennetta).

(Photo Credit: Getty)