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