Updated

Reigning champion Tamira Paszek barely round match Wednesday at the $220,000 Bell Challenge.

The third-seeded Paszek fought off match points before outlasting 25-year-old American Varvara Lepchenko 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) on the hardcourts at PEPS Laval University Campus. The Austrian slugger Paszek needed just over three hours to stave off the game Lepchenko and reach the quarterfinals.

Paszek bested another American, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, in last year's finale in Quebec City.

In an evening matchup between two Canadians, fourth-seeded Rebecca Marino set down Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

The final match of the day saw fifth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson, the runner-up here in 2005, upended by Heather Watson of Great Britain 7-5, 6-3.

In Wednesday's lone match involving a pair of non-seeds, Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek got past French qualifier Julie Coin 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Coin fired 13 aces in a losing effort.

The 2011 Bell Challenge titlist will earn $37,000.