MONTREAL -- Sloane Stephens advanced to the quarterfinals of the women's Rogers Cup with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro on Thursday.
The U.S. Open champion looked to be cruising to victory with a 5-1 lead in the second set, but Suarez, a former top-10 player, battled back to tie it 5-5 in the opening match of the day on centre court at IGA Stadium.
Stephens, the third seed, broke serve for 6-5 and then scored four straight points to put the match away, punctuating her win with and sharp cross-court forehand on match point.
Stephens will next face the winner of a third-round match between Anastaija Sevastova and 10th-seeded Julia Goerges.
Four third-round matches not completed when rain wiped out play Wednesday evening will force some top seeds to play twice in a day.
First seed Simona Halep faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova; second seeded Caroline Wozniacki plays Aryna Sabalenka; 13th seeded Venus Williams faces Sorana Cirstea and Victoria Azarenka plays Johanna Korda.
