TORONTO — Second-seeded Simona Halep defeated Angelique Kerber 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 Thursday at the Rogers Cup.
Unseeded Belinda Bencic topped Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (3) to keep her run going. The 20th-ranked player from Switzerland opened the tournament with a victory over Eugenie Bouchard and followed it with an upset win over fifth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki.
Roberta Vinci advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Daria Gavrilova.
Top-ranked Serena Williams will play No. 16 Andrea Petkovic in an evening match.