WTA Toronto: Serena Williams battles past Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach QF
Competing at the Canadian Open for the first time since 2015, Serena Williams is through to the quarter-final following a hard-fought 7-5, 6-4 victory over a qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova in an hour and 31 minutes. Not knowing much about the 24-year-old rival ranked 48th, Serena suffered three breaks from five opportunities offered to the Russian and erasing that shortage with a rock-solid performance on the return, taking almost half of the points to earn 17 chances, converting five to move over the top in straight sets. They had a similar number of unforced errors and it was Ekaterina who had more winners, trying to move the ball away from Serena's racquet but ruining her chances for a more favorable result after hitting 11 double faults, some of those in the crucial moments.
The Russian found the range in the very first game, landing some deep returns and breaking after a forehand error from Serena who fell 3-0 behind after yet another service game she gave away. After a perfect start, Alexandrova lost the ground and started to spray the mistakes, giving serve away in games four and six (a double fault) to bring Williams back to the positive side of the scoreboard. The Russian survived three set points at 4-5 before Serena grabbed a break at 15 at 6-5 to clinch the opener thanks to another double fault from her opponent.
Just like in the first set, Alexandrova kicked off the second set with a break following a wild backhand from Williams, fending off five break points in the next game to settle into a fine rhythm until spoiling all that in game six with a loose backhand that finished in the net, allowing Serena to break back and gain the momentum ahead of the tenth game when the Russian served to stay in the encounter. Serena wasted three match points before seizing the fourth one with a forehand winner, crossing the finish line and setting a potential Naomi Osaka clash already on Friday.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2GXZtuL
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