It may feel like Groundhog Day but Samantha Stosur will hope for a better outcome when she faces Serena Williams at the WTA Cincinnati tournament.
Two days after being pounded 6-4 6-2 in 77 minutes by Williams in the Toronto final, Australian Stosur earned an early chance to atone ahead of the looming US Open.
Tenth seed Stosur brushed past qualifier Eleni Daniilidou of Greece 6-3 6-1 in Cincinnati on Tuesday, setting up a second-round clash with Williams, still unseeded but on fire in her comeback from a 49-week injury and illness layoff.
Williams beat Czech player Lucie Hradecka 6-3 7-6 (7-5) and she's chasing her third title from five events since returning to action.
The American, who turns 30 next month, is already favoured to add to her tally of 13 grand slam crowns at the US Open which gets under way in less than two weeks.
She has improved her world ranking from 175th to No.31 after claiming back-to-back titles at Stanford and Toronto.
Williams was generous in her assessment of last Sunday's final but must feel confident about the rematch with Stosur after extending her head-to-head edge over the Australian to 4-2.
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"Sam is playing great," Williams said. "We had a really tough match in Toronto, and it was a big win for me."
Stosur could take some comfort from Williams' unexpected struggle to close out her match with Hradecka after being 5-1 up in the second set.
"She started playing different and better and running a lot," said Williams. "I was struggling at that point."
She admitted fatigue might have been a factor, but she'd rather cope with that than with too little time on court.
"I would rather have that than fresh legs from not winning," she said.
Stosur's countrywoman Anastasia Rodionova will continue her US Open preparation elsewhere after succumbing 6-1 6-3 to fourth seed Maria Sharapova in her second-round match.
French Open champion Li Na beat Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-4 to become the first woman to reach the third round.
The win was Li's first since losing in the second round at Wimbledon. She lost in the first round last week in Toronto.
"I needed some matches for the hardcourt," said Li, who reached the Australian Open finals in January. "It's always tough, but I was happy I could win the match today."
Sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova and eighth seed Marion Bartoli also moved into the third round, Kvitova with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over South African Chanelle Scheepers, and Bartoli posting a 6-1 6-2 win over Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko.
Jelena Jankovic, seeded 13th, advanced to the second round with a 6-0 6-3 romp over Czech Iveta Benesova, while Flavia Pennetta upset 12th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6 6-3 6-3, and 16th-seeded Shuai Peng of China and No.17 seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium also progressed.
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