Marion Bartoli, ranked 10th in the world overcame a great slump in form to beat Vania King in three very close sets 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in 3 hours and 10 minutes to progress into the next round at The Mercury Insurance Open. The Frenchwoman lead 6-4, 3-0 when a sudden splash of brilliance saw King fight back and take the next 11 out of 15 games to lead 4-2 in the third set, only to see Bartoli fight back and snatch the match.

“I think it was a great fight from both of us and we tried our best," Bartoli said. “I had so many chances in the second set when I was leading 3-0. I think I had 30-40 on Vania's serve to get to 4-0. Then when she won that second set, I really felt it was going to be a tough battle towards the end. I think the key game was at 4-2 down when I held from 15-40. After that I had my rhythm back. But the game at 4-all took forever. I think I served for 10 minutes in a row or something like that. It was really a tough, physical battle out there.”

In other matches, fourth seeded Nadia Petrova had a routine victory over 6-4, 6-3 victory over American qualifier Alexa Glatch , but No.8-seeded Chanelle Scheepers falling in straight sets to another American, Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-2. Lepchenko converted 75% of her break point chances and never faced one herself. “I just tried to stay extremely focused out there. Obviously the confidence is growing. I'm trying to prove I can play on all surfaces. A lot of people put me into certain surfaces - but I feel like I can play on all of them, and I've been showing it.”

Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yung-Jan beat British No.1 Heather Watson in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(2) to move into the last 8. “Today was a difficult match because both of us are really solid, especially at the end," Chan said. “It was very warm today and it was difficult physically, but I tried to beat her mentally at the end and close it out, and I did it.” She added, “Last year I had surgery and this is my best result since then, so it means a lot to me. I'm really happy to be in the quarterfinals here in Carlsbad.”