By Chris Oddo | Friday August 11, 2017
Go ahead and call it a comeback. World No.934 Sloane Stephens has found her form in just her third tournament after returning from an 11-month hiatus due to a foot injury and related surgery.
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After dropping matches at Wimbledon and the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., former World No.11 Stephens has reeled off four victories in succession, including wins over Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber.
On Friday Stephens saved three match points with her opponent Lucie Safarova serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set. Stephens survived the 8-deuce game, converting her sixth break point and stole the final two games to clinch the 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 victory in two hours and eleven minutes.
"I was home watching people and I just missed being on the court, so I think that kind of helps me now,” she said according to WTATennis.com. “I'm super eager to get out there and compete and just have fun, and I think that shows now more than anything."
Stephens moves on to face World No.6 Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. The Dane knocked off top-seeded World No.1 Karolina Pliskova, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-4 to earn her first career victory over a reigning World No.1.
The match took three hours and was interrupted by rain three times.
Wozniacki out-aced Pliskova 8 to 5 and saved 7 of 10 break points to improve to 5-2 lifetime against the Czech. Wozniacki improved to 45-15 on the season with her win.
Rain did more than delay matches on Friday in Toronto.
It will be a busy day for the rest of the quarterfinalists on Saturday. Garbiñe Muguruza and Elina Svitolina were only able to get a set in before rain hit. The Spaniard took the opener, 6-4. Simona Halep and Caroline Garcia did not hit the court.
Here’s the schedule for Saturday: