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Your support makes all the difference.French Open title contenders Samantha Stosur and Caroline Wozniacki reached the third round of the French Open in contrasting fashions at Roland Garros today.
Eighth seed Stosur, the runner-up 12 months ago, breezed past Romania's Simona Halep 6-0 6-2 while world number one Wozniacki needed almost two hours to see off near namesake Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3 7-6 (8/6).
It seemed certain a deciding set would be necessary when Canadian qualifier Wozniak took a 6-3 lead in the tie-break, but there was a break in play while Wozniacki queried a line call, something the French crowds are famously disapproving of.
The jeers did not put the top seed off, though, and she reeled off five points in succession to book her place in round three.
There looked set to be a shock on Court 2 when German dark horse Julia Goerges, who has beaten Wozniacki twice on clay this season, trailed Lucie Safarova by a set and a break.
But the 17th seed fired up her huge forehand and turned things around in impressive fashion, securing a 2-6 7-5 6-2 victory.
Wozniacki admitted she was fortunate to escape a decider, saying: "It was a tough match. I started off really well and everything was going the way I wanted it to.
"In the second set she played better and I started to play a little bit worse. Thankfully I finished it in two sets. It could easily have been three."
The Dane, who will face 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova next, won her first clay-court tournament in Brussels last weekend but she is not as at home on the surface as she is on hard courts and was reluctant to discuss her title chances.
Wozniacki added: "I've had great results on clay so far this year. I'm feeling comfortable and confident on the clay. We will just see. The next match will be a tough one. Hopefully I can pull through."
Stosur felt the second game of her match, when Halep failed to convert three break points, was crucial to the one-sided nature of the contest thereafter.
The Australian said: "I felt really good out there. Obviously I got off to a really good start, which helps. To break and then to manage to hold serve from 0-40 down I think really set the tone for the match.
"If you can get off to those good starts, especially when they have some opportunities, it can be a bit deflating. So I thought from that point on I kept my foot down and played a really good match."
Stosur next meets experienced Argentinian Gisela Dulko, who ousted 32nd seed and Wimbledon semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4 6-2 this afternoon.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, blitzed Irina-Camelia Begu 6-1 6-1 while 14th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was a 6-0 7-6 (7/5) winner over Mona Barthel.
Meanwhile, Bethanie Mattek-Sands will pass Venus Williams as the second highest-ranked American after defeating countrywoman Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 2-6 6-3.
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