Fifth-seeded Halep downs Pliskova
Pavlyuchenkova upsets Radwanska at Rogers Cup
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova survived a second-set scare to upset fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 and advance to the quarter-finals of the US$2.4 million women’s Rogers Cup on Thursday.
Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 16th, let two match points slip away while leading 5-4 in the second set and then lost the game on a double fault. But she rebounded in the third to extend her longest run ever at the hardcourt event.
“I think I’m still recovering from the second set,” she said in a courtside interview. “Basically, I thought I had the match in my pocket and lost it, so I’m happy with the mental side.”
Angelique Kerber, the second seed from Germany, bounced back to beat Elina Svitlolina of Ukraine 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 to advance to a quarter-final meeting with 19-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Italian Roberta Vinci.
An all-American battle saw Madison Keys breeze by 36-year-old Venus Williams 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in one hour 50 minutes. Keys will face Pavlyuchenkova on Friday.
The 10th-seeded Keys was all over a listless Williams, taking seven straight games before her sixth-seeded opponent held serve for 2-1 in the second set. She held again and won four in a row as Keys started spraying the ball and wasting easy points and took the set on a one-sided tiebreaker.
Keys found her serve in the third, punctuating the win with an ace on match point, to reach her first Rogers Cup quarterfinal.
Williams has appeared at the tournament seven times. She lost in the first round five times and won one match this time, but in 2014 she reached the final, losing to Radwanska.
Fifth-seeded Simona Halep, a finalist last year in Toronto, bulled past 14th seeded Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-3.
The 24-year Romanian will next face Svetlana Kuznetsova, the ninth seed who downed 12th seeded Czech Petra Kvitova 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Halep was up against the WTA Tour leader in aces with 360, although Pliskova managed only five in the match.
“I knew that it’s going to be tough because I don’t get rhythm from her,” said Halep. “You never know what to expect for the next point, so there’s a bit of tension.
“I just had to stay patient for every ball and to keep fighting because I knew that if I stay there for every ball, she can miss more than me.”