TOKYO, Japan – Former champion Caroline Wozniacki required nearly three hours to see off No.4 seed Carla Suárez Navarro in the second round of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Wednesday.

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For the first hour and a half of an absorbing contest, Wozniacki seemed on course for a relatively straightforward victory. However, just as she had 24 hours earlier against Belinda Bencic, the Dane was forced to overcome a mid-match hiccup before eventually triumphing, 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4.

“This was such a tough match, we played for such a long time and we really both deserve to be here as winners as the standard was very high,” Wozniacki said. “Luckily I’m the one here and I’m happy to get through.”

Suárez Navarro looked to have turned the match in her favor when she reeled off four straight games to pinch the second set. However, the match took another twist at the start of the third set, a sudden rain delay stopping the Spaniard in her tracks.

The wait for the roof to close appeared to break her concentration, too; on the resumption, she double faulted to slip break point behind before succumbing when Wozniacki pinned her behind the baseline. It was a lead that ultimately proved decisive, the former No.1 surviving a few hairy moments on her own serve to cross the finish line in two hours and 54 minutes.

“I won the next three games after the rain and managed to regroup. She was on a bit of a roll so it came at a good time,” she added when asked about the interruption during her on-court interview.

Wozniacki, who went all the way to the title in 2010 and reached the final in 2014, will meet either Yulia Putintseva or Magda Linette in the quarterfinals.