Halep denies Pavlyuchenkova upset in Montreal marathon

MONTREAL, Canada - World No.1 Simona Halep denied Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova a shock victory in the second round of the Coupe Rogers on Thursday afternoon, as she came from a break down in the final set to win, 7-6(9), 4-6, 7-5.

The Russian was gunning for her second career win against a reigning World No.1 in the past 18 months, as she upset then-World No.1 Angelique Kerber to win the Monterrey Open last April.

Instead, it was Halep who scored her eight straight win against the Russian to move through to the quarterfinals in a two-day, three-hour encounter.

"It was a great match, a great fight. She played unbelievable and was fighting until the end," the former champion said on-court after the match.

"I won the match, and I'm really happy that I could fight until the end. With this support, it's impossible to give up."

With Halep her first match since a third-round exit to Hsieh Su-wei at Wimbledon, Pavlyuchenkova was the front-runner in the opening set when the match began on Wednesday night, only to ultimately see it suspended after seven games due to rain.

After the Russian lost a break lead twice in the first seven games, she kept the pressure on the top seed upon resumption, as she continued to lead by a hold of serve until Halep secured what appeared to be a vital break in the 10th game of the opening set.

Pavlyuchenkova rebounded to force a dramatic first-set tiebreak, where she saved three set points and saw one of her own go by before Halep eventually sealed a one-set lead after a 20-point breaker.

Sets two and three saw the Russian come through in the clutch early, however, as she saved a pair of break points in the fourth game of the second set.

Eventually, Pavlyuchenkova scored the decisive break herself in the ninth game after seeing Halep hold on in a pair of previously contested affairs on serve. 

In the final set, Pavlyuchenkova broke in the first game of the final set, as her aggressive groundstrokes found their mark more often than not before the match wound through to its conclusion.

The Russian saw a 4-2 lead in the final set slip away, as she dropped serve in the eighth game of the third set. Though she came through a tough service game the first time she served to stay in the match, she was unable to repeat the feat a second time as Halep sealed victory on her first match point. 

Ultimately, Pavlyuchenkova racked up 65 unforced errors over the course of the victory, but nearly doubled Halep's total of winners with 43. 

The World No.1 will next face Venus Williams later in Thursday's session, as the seven-time major champion ousted Sorana Cirstea nearly simultaneously on Court Banque Nationale in straight sets. 

"I'm little bit dead, to be honest. It's a long time since I played my last match at Wimbledon. I will try to do my best to recover and fight next match," Halep added in her on-court interview.

"She's a champion and it's always difficult to play against her. On hard courts, it's more difficult. I will try to enjoy it and to have a nice atmosphere again."