Toronto, Canada, 7 August 2013 | tennis.com.au

Sam Stosur has suffered an almighty scare in her opening round match at the WTA Rogers Cup in Toronto, taken to three sets by little known Julia Glushko of Israel.

Glushko, a qualifier ranked No.137, took the first set against the Australian and battled hard in the third before Stosur clinched a 5-7 6-2 6-3 victory.

Stosur, the 12th seed, looked scratchy after arriving and playing in Toronto shortly after capturing the Southern California Open title on Sunday.

She managed just one ace while dishing up six double faults, and only landed 56 per cent of her first serves.

But whenever pushed, she rose to the challenge; she shrugged off the loss of the opening set to decisively win the second, and when Glushko came at her again in the third set to level at 3-3, Stosur reeled off the final three games to secure victory after two hours and 10 minutes.

In the second round, Stosur will face Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, who ousted American Jamie Hampton in straight sets.

Earlier on Tuesday in Toronto, fellow Australian Anastasia Rodionova exited the tournament after falling 6-1 7-5 to Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

Rodionova, who qualified for the main draw, was unable to keep her momentum going, going down in one hour and 18 minutes.