Serena Williams rallied in each tie-break to hold off Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Western & Southern Open 2014

Since getting beaten by Stosur in the 2011 US Open final, Williams had won all three of their subsequent encounters, including a 6-0, 6-2 rout in the second round of Montréal just last week. 

And unfortunately for the Australian, after topping Varvara Lepchenko in her Cincinnati opener, she drew Williams again. Williams was looking to put a loss to sister Venus Williams in her most recent match in the Montréal semifinals behind her. She had been susceptible to upset defeats here before, twice falling to unseeded players in Cincinnati in the past. This one couldn't have been more different than last week's rout, with tie-breaks deciding each set. Stosur did have leads in both tie-breaks, but Williams rallied from 4-0 down to win the first set tie-break and from 6-4 down in the second set tie-break en route to a 7-6(7), 7-6(7) victory. 
 The server's duel featured one break point for each player and no breaks of serve. Williams surrendered just 10 points on her first serve, with Stosur yielding 11. Williams, the WTA's 2014 aces leader, added 12 more to her total, with Stosur firing seven.